Ben Bernanke urges Bank of England to upgrade 'out of date' forecasting infrastructure

Publication of ‘alternative scenarios’

Former Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke has urged the Bank of England to modernise its “out of date” forecasting infrastructure as a high priority, and consider supplementing its central economic forecast with "alternative scenarios".

Bernanke, who headed the Fed during the Global Financial Crisis, has today (12 April) published his independent review of the BoE's forecasting, decision-making and communications approach and set out 12 recommendations.  In a 86-page report, Bernanke outlined a set of deficiencies in the Bank's forecasting infrastructure, which are the tools staff uses to produce its quarterly forecast and support analyses.  He said key software is out of date and lacking "important" functionality due to a "material degree of underinvestment", which he attributed to short-term pressures faced by staf...