Day the Bank of England called on Dr Seuss for help

Cat In The Hat brought in to beat jargon

AT the Bank of england, it’s usually more interest rates and monetary policy than green eggs and ham.

Until now, that is – as the Bank’s executives have turned to Dr Seuss for inspiration to help them to write reports that are easier to read.

in a move the Cat in the Hat will surely approve of, they studied the classic children’s books, which are praised for encouraging children to read, as a model for simplicity and clarity.

it came after their own studies found that just one in five people in Britain are capable of understanding the financial jargon in their publications.

Speaking during an interview at the Hay Festival, Dame nemat Shafik, who was the Bank’s deputy governor for two years until February, said they used the books for examples of ‘very simple language and very short words.’

The interview was conducted by economist editor Zanny Minton Beddoes, who asked: ‘You pioneer a push for simplicity and clarity, and i hope i’m not giving away secrets, but you used Dr Seuss as a model – is that right, that the Bank of england was studying Dr Seuss books?’

Dame nemat, 55, replied: ‘ Dr Seuss was a genius of getting young people to read by using very simple language and very short words. we did a little research at the Bank of england on the linguistic complexity of our own publications and found that our typical publications, like our inflation report, were only accessible to one in five of the pop-

‘Simplicity and clarity’

ulation of the UK, given average literacy levels.

‘Clearly that’s not good enough. it’s not about dumbing down … the people who really know their stuff can explain things in simple and accessible language.’ Jonathan Fuller, one of the bank’s researchers, has previously suggested that the organisation could learn from children’s books.

in october 2016 he wrote in a blog for Bank of england staff: ‘Those writing in the financial industry tend to use long words.

‘They put those long words in long sentences. And those long sentences in long paragraphs.’

Under his pen name Dr Seuss, Theodor Seuss geisel wrote classics including The Cat in The Hat, green eggs and Ham, and How The grinch Stole Christmas. His books have sold more than 600million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 20 languages.