National overviews

What is the link between monetary policy and equality? The Bank of England gives occasional briefing sessions to Members of Parliament. At those sessions our main message to the MPs is that when they arrive at the summit of their careers and enter the Cabinet, they will not wish to spend their time dealing with a macroeconomic crisis. Rather, they should devote time in the Cabinet to the discussion of the social objectives of the government, including, where relevant, policies to reduce inequality. In other words, by the consistent pursuit of price stability, the central bank provides a background against which politicians can discuss their political priorities. As Alan Greenspan put it in his opening remarks, “Sustaining a healthy economy and a stable financial system naturally permits us to take the time to focus efforts on addressing the distributional issues facing our society and on other challenging issues that may remain out in the cold.”