The Treasury has appointed Professor Brian Bell as its new Chief Economic Adviser, giving Britain a fresh expert to explain why a graph can rise, fall and still require everyone to remain patient.
Bell will begin on 9 March, advising the Chancellor and Prime Minister on the macroeconomy and fiscal policy. He will also lead the Treasury’s economics function, which means standing near several large charts while officials point at the one labelled “assumptions”.
It is a substantial brief. The economy must grow, prices must behave and households must somehow feel more secure without anybody saying, “Please stop looking at your bank balance.”
Arthur Ledger, who saves receipts in case the nation asks, welcomed the appointment. “At last,” he said, “someone can explain why my supermarket basket has become a speculative asset.”
Bell arrives with experience from the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, academia and private finance. He has therefore encountered most economic dialects, including “positive surprise”, “headwind” and “we will monitor it closely”.
The Treasury now has a senior figure to provide rigorous economic advice. This has reassured several spreadsheets, which had begun to fear that ministers might read them without supervision. They are less comfortable with the possibility that somebody may ask what happens when the forecast meets a family trying to pay for dinner.
Bell’s role is to advise on the economy, not to command it. This is an important distinction. The Treasury can appoint an expert to interpret the weather, but it still cannot order the clouds to respect the growth target.
Plain English may now appear where possible. Uncertainty will remain uncertainty, but it can expect a lanyard, a briefing pack and a chair facing away from the exchange rate screen. The jargon will not leave. It will simply be invited to speak more slowly.
Bell replaces Sam Beckett, who held the role from 2023 until retiring earlier this year. The handover was conducted with institutional care. One stack of papers was removed, another was placed beside it and the capital remained entirely theoretical.
Until Bell starts, existing forecasts will continue to supervise the economy. They have been told to remain calm, avoid sudden movements and stop making the public mood worse by appearing on television.
Britain now has a leading economist to explain the numbers. If the numbers still refuse to behave, the Treasury can at least confirm that they were warned by someone with a professorship, a folder and no authority over gravity.
Source: HM Treasury.
