By Thomas Belsham of the Bank’s Inflation Report and Bulletin Division, Simon Caunt of the Bank’s Agency for the North West and Iain Duff of the Bank’s Agency for Scotland.
This article looks at the Agents’ Special Surveys that have been commissioned by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) since the start of the financial crisis. Through the prism of the Special Surveys, the article discusses some key features of the recession and the puzzles faced by policymakers. And it describes how the Special Surveys have been used by the MPC to try to shed light on these issues — some of which continue to be a significant source of uncertainty today.
Agents’ Special Surveys since the start of the financial crisis