Of all the qualities one hopes for in a Bank of England Governor – a brilliant mind, the courage to tell politicians they are wrong, supernatural foresight – coolness is not among them. I don’t mean coolness under pressure; clearly that helps. I mean the ability to project a hip image.
The new Bank of England Governor may well be a terrific economist. More than that, however, he is a first-rate media brand. He’s more Blair than Blair. Hell, he’s more Blair than Cameron. Last weekend, he went to the Wilderness Festival, aka ‘poshstock’, and the press seems to have taken that as proof that things are going to get better. Yesterday’s Evening Standard frontpage said: ‘Get the Carney look: the Bank of England Governor teaches British men how to dress-down in style.’ Never mind the base-rate, everyone, the new Guv wears trendy clothes and has a fashion-savvy wife (‘Eat your heart out, Dave & Sam Cam’ etc).
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