Even without publication of the Sandler report (as well as Pickering's), this would have been a very timely report. It deals with the high cost of saving in the UK today - and offers a way out.

It is written by Kevin James, an American economist (PhD UCLA) who has lived and worked in the UK for five years.

The CSFI must emphasise that this report is written by Kevin in a strictly personal capacity. It does not carry the endorsement (explicit or implicit) of either his previous employer (the Financial Services Authority) or his present employer (the Bank of England). Although it makes use of material that Kevin published in an FSA working paper on the price of retail investing (published in 2000), it is a personal view. Because it was written before Kevin joined the Bank and covers an area on which the Bank has no position, he has been free to publish.