On 8 September 1854, London health authorities removed the handle of a water pump located at the juncture of Cambridge and Broad Streets. The well was famous in the city for the sweetness of its water, apparently used as an ingredient in a “celebrated nectar”.

The history of economic policymaking has been marked by a succession of “paradigms” defining the goals of economic policy and the instruments used to attain them. OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan looks at where we go from here. 

A prominent paradigm shift took place in the early 1990s, when structural policy issues progressively gained prominence while macroeconomic policies became more rules-based. The “Great Moderation” of stable growth and prices since the mid 1990s was seen as evidence of the paradigm’s success. However, favourable headline statistics masked growing underlying imbalances and, when these erupted with the financial crisis of 2008-09, established certainties broke down (again) and new approaches to policymaking came to the fore. What produced these imbalances? 

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Data for OECD area. Latest update: 30 Januray 2012

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