David Blanchflower attacks Mervyn King
David Blanchflower, the former Bank of England policy maker, has today launched a stinging attack on Mervyn King suggesting that vital information was withheld from other MPC members at the height of the financial crisis. This is by far and away the most damning accusation aimed at Mervyn King and while unsubstantiated at the moment there have been rumours of an overbearing and over controlling culture at the Bank of England, headed by Mervyn King.
However, in Mervyn King's defence, the very fact that members of the MPC each have a vote and can effectively out vote Mervyn King would suggest a more democratic process than David Blanchflower is describing. However, as with the revelation that the Bank of England had loaned more than £60 billion to Lloyds bank and Royal Bank of Scotland at the height of the financial crisis, the workings of the Bank of England are still a mystery to many in the financial markets.
The truth is that Mervyn King has for some time been a thorn in the side of the UK government, unwilling to bow down to political pressure and using his own experience and foresight to do "what he thinks is right". There are many in the UK government who would have liked to see the back of Mervyn King sometime ago but with the financial crisis at its height just last year, the resignation or sacking of the governor of the Bank of England would have been a disaster.
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