Almost all decisions in finance are taken under uncertainty, making it especially important that decision makers are exposed to a range of views, with open debates and perspectives that challenge the prevailing wisdom. That is one reason why our education outreach efforts are focused on improving diversity in the field, with the aim of attracting state school, BAME and female students into the subject. To reinforce this message and to complement the impact of econoME and the Bank Ambassadors, senior Bank officials and policy committee members, myself included, will visit 50 schools this year. We aim to give young people a glimpse into a life in economics and the enormous opportunities in financial services and businesses for people just like them. Perhaps a few will even be inspired to be the central bankers of the future. When I visit a school, my message is pretty simple: if someone like me, born in the Arctic and educated at state schools, can be Governor of the Bank of England, why not you? 5  Joint Council for Qualifications, 2017 GCSE and A-Level results, available at: https://www.jcq.org.uk/examinationresults/gcses/2017/gcse-full-course-results-summer-2017/gcse-full-course-results-summer-2017 6 HE student enrolments by subject of study 2016/17 available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-9 7 Tenreyro, S, Royal Economic Society’s Report on The Gender Balance in UK Economics Departments and Research Institutes in 2016 (published 2017). 8 HESA, Who's studying in HE? Personal characteristics available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-inhe/characteristics 9 Data shared with the Bank of England from HESA. 12,675 economics students, of which 1895 were privately funded and 6850 were state funded.

Opening remarks at the econoME launch event Remarks given by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England  Court Room, Bank of England 27 April 2018  I am grateful to Jennifer Nemeth for her assistance in preparing these remarks and to David Bholat, Andreas Joseph and John Lowes for their work on the data analysis, and Rupal Patel, Emma Sinclair and Ratidzo Starkey for their help on the background research. 1  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  Welcome Good afternoon and welcome to the Bank of England. We are here today to discuss the value of an economics education and to launch formally the Bank’s new education outreach initiatives, in particular the teaching materials we have cleverly dubbed “econoME”. We think economics education is important for three reasons: 1. It helps young people understand the world around them and equips them with the skills to make important financial decisions throughout their lives; 2. It demystifies the Bank of England’s role, helping make what we do more effective while also holding us to account; and 3. It can inspire more young people into careers in economics, finance and business, improving diversity in these fields while fostering more sustainable growth for all. The demand for improving economics education is there – over three quarters of the public believe that 1  economics should be taught in schools. The supply isn’t. Only a third of schools offer children the option to study economics from the age of 14.