J. S. FLEMMING The Bank of England’s role as a leading central bank involves both formal and informal aspects. At a formal level it is an adviser to HM Government, whilst at an informal level it is consulted by domestic and overseas institutions for advice on many areas of economic interest. Such advice must be grounded in an understanding of the workings of the domestic and international economy-a task which becomes ever more difficult with the pace of change both in the economy and in the techniques which are used by professional economists to analyse such changes. The Bank’s economists are encouraged to publish their research whenever circumstances permit, whether in refereed journals or in other ways. In particular, we make it a rule that the research underlying the Bank’s macroeconometric model, to which outside researchers have access through the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) macromodelling bureau, should be adequately explained and documented in published form. This volume expands the commitment to make research which is undertaken within the Economics Division of the Bank of England widely available. Included here are chapters which illustrate the breadth of interests which the Bank seeks to cover. Some of the research is, as would be expected, directly related to the specification of the Bank’s model, but other aspects are also well represented.