The subway station underneath the Bank of England was once voted the worst in London.
Hot, crowded and labyrinthine, the underground station called Bank is the final stop on the daily commute for dozens of the central bank’s staff.
Bank Underground is the title of a new blog launched on Friday by the BOE, where staffers can post research and share views, including those that challenge “prevailing policy orthodoxies,” according to the central bank.
With the new online venture, the BOE joins a lengthening list of central banks participating in what’s sometimes called the “econosphere,” the rich and varied web-based ecosystem of policy wonks, academics and officials past and present who daily slug it out over the pressing economic issues of the day.
The New York Fed does something similar over at Liberty Street Economics. Former Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is another recent arrival in the economic blogosphere, where he quickly started arguing with former treasury secretary Larry Summers.
One of the first posts on Bank Underground suggests the new blog isn’t going to stick to monetary policy issues.
It assesses what driverless cars might mean for insurers. Self-driving vehicles could conceivably mean fewer accidents, whittling away the premiums insurers charge drivers for motoring cover. The authors conclude insurers probably have nothing to fear, as the advent of driver-free zones in cities may offer new opportunities to insure groups using the new vehicles, or the manufacturers.
The second post on the new site examines whether the risk of deflation—a spell of widespread and persistent falls in prices—is heightened if interest rates are near zero, giving the impression the central bank can do little to stoke price-growth. The authors conclude it is.
The new blog is part of a push by Mark Carney, the BOE’s governor, and chief economist Andy Haldane to encourage more heterodox thinking and stimulate debate at an institution sometimes criticized for being stuffy and old-fashioned. It earlier announced a new research agenda aimed at integrating research across its departments and invited outside researchers to participate
