BoE's Broadbent defends erroneous economic forecasts

The reasons behind erroneous economic forecasts can be broken down into a three-part ‘Rumsfeld classification' of known unknowns, forecasting mistakes, and unknown unknowns, according to Ben Broadbent, an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

In a speech delivered yesterday at Queen Mary University in East London, Broadbent said "there is probably too much scepticism" of economic forecasters, with critics "too inclined" to blame forecasting mistakes for errors