Bank of England to launch new blog “Bank Underground”

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The old lady of Threadneedle street will lift up her skirt tomorrow with the launch of a new staff blog entitled "Bank Underground".

The blog, named after the nearby tube station, will let Bank of England staff write editorials which support, as well as challenge, existing orthodoxies. 

Previously, Bank of England staff were limited to communicating with the public through formal releases such as its quarterly bulletin.

"The bank’s strategic plan emphasised the need to open up the Bank – sharing our research agenda and engaging more externally," John Lewis, editor of Bank Underground, said.

"A key objective in that regard was to provide greater insight into staff views on topical issues. With more and more of the debate around economics and finance now taking place in blogs, Bank Underground puts us in that space and helps us to achieve that objective."

The blog will host staff insights on driverless cars, alongside a topic that's more typical of a central bank – deflation risks, among other important issues.

Carney and co. may have taken inspiration from their friends across the pond – the New York Fed has Liberty Street Economics where staff publish posts that "do not necessarily reflect the thinking" of itself or the Federal Reserve.