In this speech, Professor Stephen Nickell considers four issues. First, has the MPC exhibited a deflationary bias? The answer is no. Second, is the United Kingdom going to experience a surge in trend productivity growth in the near future for New Economy reasons? The answer is no. Third, there is an analysis of the "imbalances" that currently afflict the UK economy. The broad conclusion is that unsustainable imbalances do not require any special response from the MPC over and above its watchi...