Jenny
Financial Stability
Economics, Toronto
MSc Finance & Economics, LSE
Tell us about your work in financial stability.
Most of the work I’m involved with in my division is to identify potential vulnerabilities and shocks in the financial system – and once a shock does occur, how is that likely to transmit throughout the financial system? And ultimately, how does that affect households, businesses and individuals?
One of the most interesting projects I’ve contributed towards is definitely the Financial Stability Report, which is a publication that goes out twice a year and essentially it’s a backwards look at what’s happened in the economy over the past six months, in terms of the shocks and vulnerabilities that have crystallised. And also a forward-looking review of what potentially could happen, and also any mitigating actions that we could take.
A lot of time and effort goes into this publication, and a lot of attention and detail is paid because of the fact that this work ultimately forms the Bank’s view on what they think the current market’s current state is and its potential state is, and also it’s our way of hopefully influencing how banks behave.
What’s the best thing about working here?
I think one of my favourite things is the flexibility. When I come into work, I know I’ll be able to manage my own time to an extent. The Bank is very concerned about the quality of the work, but necessarily the amount of time you have to sit in front of the computer.
And also the fact that I’m working with some very intelligent people, who are interested in some of the things that I am, means that I get to come into work and have great discussions and great conversations.
Tell us something we didn’t know about the Bank.
Well, there are a lot of stories that go around – interesting facts about the Bank, because it’s such an old institution. And one of the things that I heard recently that I found quite interesting is about 100 years ago, one of the Bank employees who passed away happened to be one of the largest men in the world at the time.
And because they were afraid that his remains would be stolen and sold off somewhere, he was requested to be buried within the garden of the Bank, because the Bank is built on ex-church ground. So the Bank is not just safe in that sense, it’s also safe against grave-robbers.