Both Sides of The Coin: The Story of The Central Bank of Barbados 1972-2017

Chapter 5: Some Notable Developments 211 The economists were given every opportunity to present their drafts at seminars and conferences held by the Bank, other local institutions, and regional and international groups. The first seminar arranged by the Research Department, in August 1973, dealt with consumer credit and attracted participants from the UWI and the Ministry of Finance. It started a commitment to public sector education, which has remained with the Bank ever since. The practice of presenting papers at conferences abroad started in June 1974 when Worrell, along with Economists Bernard Codrington and Judy Gittens, accompanied Governor Blackman to the Annual Conference of the Regional Programme of Monetary Studies (RPMS) in Trinidad and Tobago. On that occasion, Worrell presented a paper on exchange rates and economic development in Caricom. Some of the early papers were also presented at conferences of the Caribbean Studies Association. Over the years, publications by Bank staff have appeared in four types of research outlets. First, there were in-house documents: the Economic Review and special issues by the Bank. An appraisal system was put in place to ensure that research appearing in the Economic Review was accorded the seriousness it deserved. Economists were normally expected to have drafts of their papers ready for circulation about three months before the expected issue date of the Review . The articles were then vetted by an Editorial Advisory Committee comprising Central Bank staff and external referees. During the late 1980s, the Central Bank members of the Editorial Committee consisted of the deputy governor with responsibility for research, the Research Department's management and an administrative officer who coordinated the entire effort. By 1995, the membership was broadened to include senior economists and the economic advisers. The external referees were well respected economists at the UWI, regional central banks and financial institutions as well as foreign universities and international financial institutions. The work of the Editorial Committee was not to be taken lightly. During February 1994, Deputy Governor Worrell wrote to the Committee requesting a review of the process for preparing the Annual Report and Economic Review . He complained that the drafts were not “interesting