A visit from the Bank of England
Economics and Business students from HGS were exited to welcome visiting students from KEHG and Fraser West from the Bank of England on Thursday 3rd of April. Please see below for Jaskaran Virdi’s (10H) account of the event:
The Bank of England talk was very intriguing and helped us gain a deep understanding of what the Bank of England does. Sixth formers from Handsworth Grammar and other schools learnt about how interest rate decisions are made, and about the time lag in interest rates taking effect. Whilst the talk had a focus on the Financial Policy Committee, we were also told about other committees such as the Monetary Policy Committee. The economist went into a lot of depth and detail when talking about these committees, and kept the talk interactive by asking us questions, though the majority of us were initially hesitant to speak up. We also travelled back in history, learning about the 2008 financial crash (which resulted in the creation of the FPC), and were shown informative line graphs outlining the change in interest rates over time. We noticed that interest rates appeared to be lower after 2008 in a bid to revive stagnant economic growth. The economist also briefly talked about the spike in interest rates since 2022 due to factors such as the war in Ukraine and COVID-19. We were briefed on the dangers of uncontrollable inflation, with references to Germany during the Great Depression and the situation in Zimbabwe, where currency has become worthless. At the end, we had the opportunity to ask questions about pretty much anything related to the Bank of England, everything from future careers to whether fixed or floating exchange rates were better. Overall, the talk was wonderful and captivating and presented us with new information that will help us in our studies.
