Deputy Governor Jarle Bergo
Dear conference participants, a very warm welcome to you all.
Over the past decade or two, central banking has undergone dramatic changes in terms of communication. Central banks are increasingly trying to make themselves better understood, rather than leaving their thinking shrouded in mystery, on the basis that more transparency both enhances democratic accountability and improves the quality of monetary policy.
But what is meant by transparency? In his book "The quiet revolution", Alan Blinder, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, sketches a series of increasingly stringent transparency standards that a modern central bank might think of meeting. The first of these standards is clarity. The second standard goes beyond clarity to substantive content. The third standard raises the bar higher: to clear this third hurdle, according to Blinder, the central bank must also leave itself open to public scrutiny.
Norges Bank puts considerable effort into promoting transparency. Over the last year, we have taken further steps in this direction by publishing the interest rate path that we think will be the one that best achieves the goals of monetary policy. Using Blinder's definitions, we are clear about our intentions regarding the implementation of monetary policy, and the information content in such a published interest rate path surely has substantive content. With our Inflation Report, our Annual Report and events such as today's conference, we also try to clear the third hurdle and leave ourselves open to public scrutiny.
The famous Norwegian dramatist and poet Henrik Ibsen, who died 100 years ago, was also an avid supporter of openness and transparency. This is clearly expressed in his play "Peer Gynt" where he warns against introversion and self-righteousness. In this play Ibsen describes a pitiful society where "man is himself to the uttermost limit" and "no-one considers another's ideas" but "encloses himself in a barrel of self". In this sad world, Peer Gynt himself is crowned "Emperor of Self" - of no great benefit to his own future. Nothing really thrives enclosed in a "barrel of self" - and that certainly goes also for monetary policy. Light, - strong light -, openness and fertilising through interaction with others are necessary.
In the name of transparency, it is a pleasure to host this bi-annual conference on evaluation and assessment of monetary policy. Trying to meet the standards of best international practice in the conduct of monetary policy is a clearly stated goal of Norges Bank, and also a natural benchmark against which to be evaluated and assessed. The first part of this year's conference will have an international and broad perspective focusing on overarching issues and challenges to monetary policy that lie ahead. The second part focuses on the conduct of monetary policy in Norway. We are privileged to have such a distinguished group of speakers and discussants in the audience, from academia, from the financial market and also colleagues from the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and Sveriges Riksbank. I am also happy to see that this conference has attracted such a large number of Norwegian participants from various institutions.
Our views are formed and refined through debate with fellow economists. I therefore look forward to fruitful debates, both during the sessions and during the breaks. I hope you will all enjoy the conference.