The themes are broad. That reflects the diversity of our agenda. They focus on the interactions and intersections between policy areas. They emphasise new challenges and new directions, while recognising that familiar questions facing central banks remain no less important. Today’s conference is organised around them. The first theme covers “policy frameworks and interactions” The re-emergence of macroprudential instruments as part of the policy armoury raises fundamental questions about the interaction of monetary policy, macroprudential policy, and microprudential policy. It is essential to improve our understanding of the relationship between credit cycles and systemic risks. Since credit market developments both affect and reflect potential growth in the broader economy, they – and macroprudential measures to influence them – require careful study by financial and monetary policymakers alike. The advent of a new, enhanced policy toolkit raises vital questions about the effectiveness of individual policy tools; their joint operation; and how they interact domestically and across borders. The second theme covers “evaluating regulation, resolution, and market structures” The financial crisis precipitated a radical overhaul of the approach towards regulation, supervision and resolution. Regulatory policies have shifted from a near-exclusive focus on microprudential resilience to a more balanced emphasis on minimising systemic risk. In the whirlwind of essential change, there has been, however, relatively little assessment of the overall effect of reform on the financial system as a whole. Moreover, our understanding of the “system” must extend well beyond the banking sector to encompass the whole of market-based finance.
To coincide with the release of the new Bank data sets, we want to see what novel insights they can yield. The visualisation could be a static description of an interesting pattern or relationship in the data or the creation of an interactive app. Entrants are free to focus on whatever they like, as long as it employs some of the newly available data in some way. The second competition is for the best research paper – the “One Bank research” competition. We are particularly keen to engage early career researchers across the academic world. For our inaugural competition, the paper should be on some aspect of “The interaction between microprudential, macroprudential, and/or monetary policy”. The winners of each competition will be decided by separate judging panels of Bank staff and external academics. The prize for both competitions will be £ Further details on how to apply are now live on our website. Conclusion Economies are complex, dynamic and constantly evolving systems, underpinned by social interactions and behavioural change; shaped by fundamental forces like technology and globalisation; and supported – or at times disrupted – by finance. Policymakers need research to help understand these phenomena and to craft our responses to them. And research can make some of its most effective contributions by addressing the priorities of policymakers.