Most countries experienced high and volatile inflation during the 1970s and part of the 1980s, and low and stable inflation thereafter. Professor Besley argues that the main contrast between these two periods is a significant change in central bank responses to inflation. Periods of high and...

In this speech,(1) Professor Tim Besley,(2) member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), discusses the United Kingdom’s long-term structural shift from manufacturing towards services; whether this shift is consistent with increasing prosperity and growth for the UK economy; and the...