of office for the different members overlap to create continuity in the work of the bank. previously it was the governing council of the riksbank, whose members are appointed by the riksdag, who governed the bank together with the governor. today the general council has more of a controller function. they appoint the members of the executive board, but do not have any influence over, for instance, the decisions on the repo rate. it is the executive board which independently makes the decisions. the executive board is what is usually known as an individualistic committee. 2 this means that each member has an individual responsibility. interest rate decisions are made by voting and the members can then publicly express their views. the bank of england also has this type of committee. in this, we differ from a number of other central banks, although most see, for instance, dincer and eichengreen ( 2007 ). for a review of different monetary policy decision - making models, see blinder and wyplosz ( 2004 ). have a committee that makes decisions on the interest rate. 3 one exception is, for instance, new zealand, where the central bank governor is alone in making the decisions. many other central banks instead have a collegial committee. in this case the members reach a decision which they then all publicly support. any differences of opinion are kept within the group ; outwardly they speak with one voice. the way they reach a decision varies. in what is known as a genuinely collegial committee the decision is preceded by an internal discussion where each member puts forward his or her views. the ecb is an example of this type of committee. in an autocratically collegial committee, on the other hand, it is the chairman who more or less dictates the group's “ consensus ”. some researchers have considered the federal reserve ’ s fomc committee under the leadership of alan greenspan to be an example of such a committee. 4 the changes made recently indicate that the fomc is more of an individualistic committee. the riksbank is one of the central banks with the most pronounced individual responsibility. major changes in the way the material for the decision is produced during the years i have worked at the riksbank there have been major changes in the work on producing the material for monetary policy decision - making. six years ago our forecasts were based on the assumption that the repo rate would be held unchanged, regardless of whether

dec - 93 jun - 92 dec - 92 jun - 91 dec - 91 dec - 90 - 20 profit before loan losses profit before loan losses using ifrs loan losses sources : bank reports and the riksbank 2. real prices for office premises in central locations ( index 1981 = 100 ) stockholm goteborg c05 de c - de c04 cde de c01 c00 de de c99 de cde de c - cde c95 c94 de de c93 de cde de c - c89 cde c88 de de c87 c - de c - de de c84 de c83 de c81 de de c82 malmo sources : newsec ab and the riksbank 3. house prices ( index 1986 = 100 ) national average greater stockholm greater goteborg greater malmo m ar - 0 m ar - 0 m ar - 0 m ar - 0 m ar - 0 m ar - 0 m ar - 0 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 9 m ar - 8 m ar - 8 m ar - 8 m ar - 8 source : statistics sweden 4. dwellings completed in newly constructed buildings ( units ) source : statistics sweden 5. ratios of household debt and post - tax interest expenditure to disposable income ( per cent ) debt ratio ( lhs ) mar - 06 mar - 05 mar - 04 mar - 03 mar - 02 mar - 01 mar - 00 mar - 99 mar - 98 mar - 97 mar - 96 mar - 95 mar - 94 mar - 93 mar - 92 mar - 91 mar - 90 mar - 89 mar - 88 mar - 87 mar - 86 mar - 85 mar - 84 mar - 83 mar - 82 mar - 81 mar - 80 mar - 79 mar - 78 mar - 77 mar - 76 mar - 75 mar - 74 mar - 73 mar - 72 mar - 71 mar - 70 interest ratio ( rhs ) sources : statistics sweden and the riksbank