” story. there are encouraging signs that economics is gaining in popularity in the upper tiers of the educational pyramid. but this pyramid is widest towards the top and narrow at the bottom, with a pronounced ( societal and regional ) slant. such a structure is unlikely to be a strong and stable educational foundation for most people. little wonder economics is perceived as remote and elitist. perhaps a reasonable question to ask – and even if it is unreasonable i am going to ask it anyway – is why the essentials of the economy and finance are seen as so much less essential than literacy and numeracy. is financial literacy so different than general literacy, in its impact on people ’ s lives and everyday decision - making, that it justifies such a different educational pyramid? gandhi is often claimed to have said : “ be the change you want to see in the world ”. i love that quote. through its public understanding role, there is change the bank can effect in the area of economics education. recently, it has begun doing so. the bank has been working with the organisation ‘ we are futures ’ to develop material on the economy to be taught in schools to children aged 11 - 16. the aim is to help create that missing foundation stone in the economics educational pyramid. the bank ’ s programme is called econome. as its name suggests, econome aims to link the economy and financial system to people ’ s everyday lives ; it is everyday economics. it seeks to give economics the same characteristics as sticky stories – local, personal, topical. trial materials are available for teachers now. the programme will be fully launched in spring 2018, with a state schools focus. over time, we will seek to broaden the schools coverage and develop materials for 16 - 18 year olds. to help with this roll - out, the bank is increasing significantly the numbers of school visits it undertakes, with a target of 200 in 2018. we are working with the charities speakers for schools and inspiring the future to achieve that objective, again with a focus on state schools. importantly, these visits will not just include the bank ’ s top brass, but staff at every level. from personal experience, i know just how important and uplifting ( at least for the speaker ) these visits can be. they are also the best media - training i have ever encountered, with performance feedback that is instant and brutal. as discussed by morton ( 2011 ), this quote is widely attributed to gandhi but is likely a

yves mersch : bridge forum dialogue introduction by mr yves mersch, governor of the central bank of luxembourg, to the speech by vaclav klaus, president of the czech republic, at the bridge forum dialogue conference, luxembourg, 8 march 2006. * * * mr. president, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, in the bridge forum dialogue, we are most honoured to have with us, this evening, as guest speaker the head of state of the czech republic. we, in luxembourg, have a special place in our hearts for the czech republic dating back to the period when the house of luxembourg and bohemia were united between 1310 and 1437. vaclav klaus is such an eminent figure that it is almost unnecessary to introduce him. so, just a minimum of facts to refresh our memories. his academic field is economics which he studied in prague, and later, taking advantage of a period of relative liberalization, under communist rule, in italy and the united states. later, he taught economics at the charles university and the prague university of economics. in his political career mr. klaus has been, successively, finance minister of the former czechoslovakia and then prime minister, chairman of the parliament and, since february 2003, president of the czech republic. he played a leading role in the " velvet separation " of the czech and slovak republics. president klaus has written more than 20 books on political, economic and social themes and has received many prizes and honorary doctorates all over the world. mr. klaus has chosen as the title of his speech " some doubts about the eu ’ s ever - closer future ". he is known to be an excellent, even charismatic, speaker and he is fearless in expounding his own personal vision of europe. i have studied a number of recent speeches in which mr. klaus has set out his vision of europe. the points i shall make are not aimed at contradicting our distinguished speaker but merely at stimulating the debate. as a small country, luxembourg is staunchly expressing its confidence in further european integration and is deeply attached to the welfare state. as such but also as a seat of the european institutions, we are following the debate about " our europe " with great interest and the polls show that people in this spot of europe are better informed about and more aware of european matters than elsewhere. president klaus has strong views on europe and begs to differ from mainstream thinking, but on the european constitution he believes that " a new constitutional