, monetary targets and the exchange rate mechanism. for much of that period, the bank ’ s monetary stability aims lacked definition. as the governor has recently noted, this changed with the bank of england act of 1998 which clarified – for the first time in three centuries – the bank ’ s responsibilities. the ‘ end ’ for monetary policy was defined as maintaining price stability ( specified in subsequent remits as the pursuit of a symmetric 2 % cpi inflation target ) and, subject to that, supporting the economic policy of the government including its objectives for growth and employment. the means for getting there is the independent setting of monetary policy by the mpc. this represented a major step forward for the clarity, accountability and efficiency of monetary policy, as assessed by the 2013 review of the monetary policy framework by the treasury. by de - politicising the short run trade - off between inflation and activity, this arrangement has provided the grounds for the most successful monetary policy regime for the uk thus far. the mpc ’ s flexible inflationtargeting framework was further strengthened by the 2013 treasury review and the following remit update which effectively ‘ completed the contract ’ by further specifying the relationship between the mpc ’ s primary objective for price stability, and its secondary objective to support jobs and growth. though, having overseen the 2013 review, i must declare an interest in judging its contribution. since then, the remit has explicitly acknowledged that, in exceptional circumstances shocks to the economy may be particularly large or the effects of shocks may persist over an extended period. in such a period the carney m ( 2017 ), remarks given at a conference to mark 20 years of the mpc ’ s operational independence, notes that governor eddie george once remarked that in the half century that followed the bank ’ s nationalisation in 1946 it “ operated under legislation which, remarkably did not attempt to define our objectives or functions. ” all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / speeches mpc must balance the trade - off between the speed with which inflation is brought back to the target and the consideration that should be placed on the variability of jobs and economic activity. of course we didn ’ t have brexit in mind when updating the remit in 2013, nevertheless the bank headed into the eu referendum last year with arguably the most clearly defined objective for monetary policy in its 323 year history. and it has been the foundation of the framework the mpc has used to set monetary policy since

the diversity project speech given by andrew g haldane, chief economist, bank of england opening remarks given at the investment association launch of the diversity project tuesday 8 november 2016 all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx let me start by congratulating helena for launching the diversity project. it is a great initiative. the uk ’ s financial services industry is a world - leader in a great many respects – and long may that remain the case. yet when it comes to issues of diversity it is often a laggard. for example, recent work by pwc has shown that the gender balance in financial services diminishes sharply with seniority. despite women making up 60 % of all employees, only 25 % make it to middle - management and only 19 % to more senior roles. this is deeply disappointing. but it also presents the industry with a real opportunity to make some great strides forward. i hope the diversity project under helena ’ s leadership, and the announcement of jayne - anne as the government ’ s new women in finance champion can help seize that opportunity and propel financial services into a leadership role on diversity too. when i asked a colleague what i should talk about today, she said i needed to have a personal story. that was an immediate challenge. as a white, middle aged, middle class, man working for an establishment institution, i am not exactly part of a disadvantaged minority. or am i? diversity, like beauty, is much more than skin deep. diversity is not only about our physiological identity – our gender, ethnicity. it is also about our sociological identity – our background, experience – and our neurological identity – our personalities, how our brains are wired. when i joined the bank of england 26 years ago, i was physiologically similar to others at the bank, but quite different along these broader sociological and neurological dimensions. in fact, i was the beneficiary of one of the bank ’ s first waves of diversity initiatives. and i am delighted to say that, following a sequence of initiatives over the years, the bank today is a significantly more diverse place along all these dimensions. so too, i am sure, are all of your organisations. the numbers here speak for themselves with a steadily rising trend, over several decades now, of female and ethnic minority representation in the workplace and, admittedly more limited, evidence of a rising trend at senior executive and