SPEECH - In the speech 'Economists and the Real World' Charles Bean of the Bank of England said it is often said that central bank independence is desirable because it takes the politics out of monetary policy. He also said an important feature of the present UK arrangement, with the nine member MPC, is the extent to which it has also put economics right at the centre of monetary policy. On the UK economy he said the unwinding of imbalances would be hampered by the threat of war in Iraq and