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It may be time to pay some attention to communication with the general public…In the end, it is the general public that gives central banks their democratic legitimacy, and hence their independence.” 37  9  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  9  might spread between people. For example, the recent work of George Akerlof and Robert Shiller has emphasised the role of “popular narratives” in shaping the public’s expectations and decisions. 39  Story-telling is the ultimate communications device. History is no more than a sequence of stories. These stories spread word by word, mail by mail, Tweet by Tweet. They obey the same laws of motion as epidemics, with viral spread beyond a tipping point. And in a world of modern media, these popular narrative epidemics are probably spreading further and faster than ever previously. This matters for individuals’ feelings and decisions and, potentially, for macro-economic behaviour. Pessimistic popular narratives have been used to explain the sharp contraction of spending at the time of the Great Depression and the Great Recession. 40  With popular narratives more virulent than in the past,  tracking their source and spread may be increasingly important for understanding the economy. This poses risks to policymakers. But it also presents opportunities if they are able to shape and shepherd these narratives through adroit communications.