Bank of England
Forget beer and petrol: will MPs debate monetary policy today?
MPs are debating the detail of the Budget today, and will doubtless pick over some of the lines from George Osborne’s round of interviews this morning, particularly the confusion over… Continue reading
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The problem with Mark Carney
In Washington last week, I encountered amazement that the Bank of England is about to be run by a foreigner. This was not because of any contempt for Mark Carney,… Continue reading
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The Bank of England panics and misses the point
Wonders never cease. I awoke this morning to hear that the Deputy Governor, Paul Tucker, had announced that consideration should be given to the Bank of England setting negative interest… Continue reading
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Mark Carney: I want a debate on inflation target
If Mark Carney had any reservations about his move to Threadneedle Street later this year, he might now add to his list regular sessions with the Treasury Select Committee. His… Continue reading
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Sir Mervyn defends George Osborne’s QE trick
Sir Mervyn King told MPs, slightly wearily, at the end of today’s Treasury Select Committee hearing, that this was his 100th appearance before a parliamentary committee since he joined the… Continue reading
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Like the Mounties, Osborne gets his man
George Osborne pulled off one of those bits of political theatre that he so enjoys today. Watching his statement in the Commons, one sensed something was up as Osborne delighted… Continue reading
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Osborne’s coup: Mark Carney is the new Bank of England Governor
Hiring Mark Carney may just be George Osborne’s best move since becoming Chancellor. Britain badly needed a break from the failed economic consensus which still hangs around the Bank of… Continue reading
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Sir Mervyn King: Quantitative easing is reaching its limit
Quantitative easing isn’t an eternal elixir of economic health. That was the admission from Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King last night at a speech in Cardiff. Sir Mervyn… Continue reading
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The poverty of economics
The IMF’s growth downgrades will make tomorrow’s newspaper headlines but the more striking point is its decision to massively rewrite British economic history. As Citi’s Michael Saunders notes (PDF), the… Continue reading
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Another growth plan falters
It seems that yet another coalition growth scheme is falling flat on its face: this time, Sir Mervyn King’s ‘Funding for Lending’ brainwave. The theory was that the Bank of… Continue reading
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Wanted: superhuman central banker
The race to replace Sir Mervyn King started today when an advert searching for the next Bank of England governor appeared in the Economist. It wasn’t a particularly exciting start… Continue reading
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Picking the next Bank of England Governor
Treasury questions is one of the more entertaining spectacles on offer in the Commons. There’s the standard banter between George Osborne and Ed Balls – today we saw the Chancellor… Continue reading
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QE — the ultimate subsidy for the rich
It’s official: Quantitative Easing has marked the biggest transfer of wealth to the rich of any government policy in recent documented history. The Bank of England released an analysis today, which… Continue reading
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The Bank of England: no Paul the Octopus
When challenged on the Bank of England’s poor record of economic forecasting by Ed Conway of Sky News this morning, Mervyn King said: ‘This isn’t a spot the ball contest… Continue reading
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Economy ‘close to zero’
Sir Mervyn King’s sporting jokes are almost as bad as the Bank of England’s ability to publish accurate economic forecasts. As he unveiled the August Inflation Report this morning, the… Continue reading
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Lower inflation eases the squeeze, for now at least
George Osborne might not be feeling particularly comfortable with today’s August Inflation Report from the Bank of England, as Sir Mervyn King is expected to slash the Bank’s growth forecast… Continue reading
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More smoke from the Libor fire
A new cache of emails released today by the Bank of England reveal its deputy governor Paul Tucker was warned that it was ‘plausible’ that Libor rates were being ‘influenced by commercial… Continue reading
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Libor and what the Bank did and didn’t know
Listening to Mervyn King and his Bank of England deputy Paul Tucker over the past few days, you’d have thought they only found out about Libor manipulation with the rest… Continue reading
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Everybody duck! It’s macho Merv
Just as Mervyn King, as Isabel flags in her blog, is being dragged into the Libor scandal, comes a truly remarkable article from the FT headlined ‘The bank that roared’.… Continue reading
22 Comments King joins Libor drama
Up to now, Sir Mervyn King has played largely a walk-on part in the Libor scandal, prompting Bob Diamond’s resignation after he warned Barclays that the regulators no longer had… Continue reading
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