Lessons for Central Banks: Interview with Kristin Forbes

Thomas Chow poses the questions in “Kristin Forbes on ‘wargaming’ for thenext crisis,” subtitled “The MIT professor and former BoE MPC member speaks about QE, scenario analysis and the ar of conducting monetary policy in the ‘fog of war'” (Central Banking, May 14, 2026, free registration required). Forbes has a new book out, The Art of Monetary Policy: Lessons from Sun Tzu for Central Banks. Here are a few points that caught my eye: Economic shocks are happening faster, so advance scenario planning has become more important Even during the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008, the major bank runs evolved slowly over days, weeks and months. But what we saw with SVB [Silicon Valley Bank] in 2023 was that bank runs can happen in a matter of hours. Policy-makers don’t have the luxury of going back to the office, calling people together, pondering options and then putting together a plan. Even in the GFC when things were happening quickly, there was this saying: “let’s just get to the…