Huw Pill is appointed as the chief economist at the Bank of England. Pill, 53, is appointed to succeed Andy Haldane as the Bank of England’s chief economist and executive director of the monetary analysis.
The Bank of England has hired Huw from Harvard Business School, where he has been a lecturer since 2018. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he held senior economic positions at the European Central Bank. Previously, he worked for the Bank as an economist (1990-1992).
The job of chief economist is that the one Monetary Policy Committee post appointed by the Bank itself instead of by the Treasury, and therefore the final selection from a shortlist was made by Threadneedle Street’s governor, Andrew Bailey, and one among his four deputies, Ben Broadbent, himself a former Goldman Sachs economist. Bailey’s predecessor as governor, Mark Carney, also worked for the US investment bank.
In the past, he has worked at the Bank of England and at Harvard University, where he was an associate professor of business administration. In 1989, he earned a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from University College, Oxford, and a MA and PhD in Economics from Stanford University in 1990 and 1995, respectively.
This appointment means that the University of Oxford and Stanford educated economist has once again returned to where he began his career – the Bank of England, where he spent two years in the early 1990s. As the economy is improving and inflation is accelerating beyond their 2% target, Pill, 53, rejoins the BOE at a time when Monetary Policy Committee officials are signaling the possibility of modest tightening.
Pill’s experience managing research economics at a major monetary institution makes him a valuable asset. In Frankfurt, he spent several years as the deputy director general for research at the ECB. A British official with a distinguished Pedigree, Pill might stand out in a British public environment that risks stigmatizing any previous association with the European Union.
His previous position, occupied by Haldane, took a more exploratory approach to monetary policy, covering topics like inequality and automation, which won him plaudits and helped raise his profile, but also caused controversy. As Pill has stated in the past, his stance may lean more towards a narrower approach.
He takes over for Andy Haldane, who has been promoted to executive director. On 6 September, Pill will assume his new role.
Pill said: “It is a great privilege to rejoin the Bank and have the opportunity to contribute to the work of the MPC and the Bank more broadly at what remains a challenging time for monetary policy and central banking.”