The shocks that we are seeing are restricting supply in the economy relative to the recovery of demand. This is important because monetary policy will not increase the supply of semi-conductor chips, it will not increase the amount of wind (no, really), and nor will it produce more HGV drivers. Moreover, tightening monetary policy could make things worse in this situation by putting more downward pressure on a weakening recovery of the economy. But what is crucial here is whether and how expectations of future inflation respond to these supply shocks, and thereby embed rising inflation. The most commonly talked about mechanism goes from higher inflation expectations, to companies feeling able to raise prices and employees asking for higher wages, to wage pressure and more persistent inflation. In this way, what start out as relative changes in price levels for some goods and services can  The hard yards ‐ speech by Andrew Bailey | Bank of England  Page 4  become generalised and turn into persistent inflation. I take this risk very seriously, it has form so to speak. That’s a world where people expect further price rises and thus seek to hold lower money balances relative to income than they otherwise would. But, in a world where people expect the price rises to be temporary and reversed, they will delay spending, and hold higher money balances relative to income than they otherwise would, and the growth of demand will be weaker. As a pertinent example, will second hand car prices stay elevated?
Some reforms underway represent efforts to ensure that our rules keep pace with the achievements that the industry has already made. On this note, I would argue that Basel II is just as much about aligning supervisory practices more closely with the industry’s latest advances as it is about promoting improvements in the management of risk within the industry itself. But I sympathise with the sense that the wide range of standards that are evolving in parallel represents a drain on the limited resources that firms have to keep pace with those changes. I agree that we must find a way to balance the dangers we are trying to ward off against the time and resources it takes to adapt to new circumstances and new rules. And I want to work with you to make sure that the labours you undertake are not merely exercises in compliance with new rules, but rather will represent honest efforts to strengthen your practices and your long-term prospects for growth and innovation. From my perspective as chairman of the Basel Committee, I can say that the Committee’s main focus in the near future will be on completing the current work and on implementing Basel II in a sound, consistent, and effective manner. This will allow us all a period to digest the framework we have designed. At the same time, we have always said that Basel II should be an evolutionary approach. This does not mean a moving target.