James Bartholomew

Carney must go

The Bank of England governor’s ‘forward guidance’ is reliably wrong. His other interventions are even worse

issue 22 October 2016

Oh dear. Mark Carney is irritated. His proud independence has been challenged. The Prime Minister had the temerity to admit that she was not altogether thrilled with his ‘super-low’ interest rates and quantitative easing. These policies meant that people with assets got richer, she pointed out. ‘People without them suffered… People with savings have found themselves poorer.’ Mr Carney found this intolerable and haughtily rebuffed her, saying, ‘The policies are done by technocrats. We are not going to take instruction on our policies from the political side.’ Back in your box, Mrs May. Carney’s in charge!

As they clash, it is increasingly hard to remember what a bright day it was in November 2012 when George Osborne signed up Mr Carney to be the new governor of the Bank of England. Mr Carney was the very best — ‘the outstanding central banker of his generation’. Not for Britain some dusty old Bank of England jobsworth but a stylish, handsome, international banking pin-up.

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