Bank Of England

[ron obvious 1,514]

https://unherd.com/2023/11/the-bank-of-england-is-out-of-control-andrew-bailey/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups[0]=18743&tl_period_type=3

[Nuff Said 5,161]

I’m no economist but it just reads like a libertarian unhappy that the government intervened after the financial crash. Of course the government will bail out the bank if they lose money on QE, that’s the whole point. It’s not like the BoE is a private organisation, it is independent of the government but it is a crucial part of the state.

[sonyc 5,541]

1 hour ago, Nuff Said said:

I’m no economist but it just reads like a libertarian unhappy that the government intervened after the financial crash. Of course the government will bail out the bank if they lose money on QE, that’s the whole point. It’s not like the BoE is a private organisation, it is independent of the government but it is a crucial part of the state.

I read Unherd (subscribing to the free daily newsletter during the height of the pandemic) and am thankful to Ron O for the introduction - Unherd articles are of mixed quality though many give a view of some issue or worild events that I wouldn't ordinarily hear or read. On the whole it is more to the right of where I am, so the whole point for me is to try and understand stuff like pro Brexit thoughts (to give an example). This article I believe is referring to "the Blob" - a nebulous general description of institutions that are actually running the country. Certainly if you are Truss, Braverman and so on. The best section is often located in the Comments. When the article is more liberal in tone the commentary is fierce in condemnation (often the same people ...a bit like this forum😄) and the reverse also holds but then it's more supportive.

So, having read it a couple of times I've decided it is an anti- Blob article. And I don't really subscribe to the idea of a Blob. Thanks goodness too for those economists providing a check on the terrible premiership of Truss!

 

Btw...

A more neutral but similar publication to Unherd is Quillette, which provides a wide coverage of lots of stuff.

[Nuff Said 5,161]

I can’t help thinking Labour would find “the Blob” just as difficult to work around too. It’s in the nature of established structures to resist change, especially when in many cases they are the way they are because they have evolved over time into the most appropriate (which could mean efficient, or simple or many other things) way to work because of the pressures and influences on them. That many of the Tories think there’s some anti-right wing bias deliberately trying to frustrate them just demonstrators the gulf between the fantasy of the libertarian theory and reality.

[ron obvious 1,514]

21 hours ago, Nuff Said said:

I’m no economist but it just reads like a libertarian unhappy that the government intervened after the financial crash. Of course the government will bail out the bank if they lose money on QE, that’s the whole point. It’s not like the BoE is a private organisation, it is independent of the government but it is a crucial part of the state.

The problem is the BoE is composed of people. I doubt many of them are there for altruistic reasons. It is the same for all large institutions.

There has to be a system of checks & balances- a feedback system - otherwise the people involved will act in their own self interest. The banks existed in a culture that enabling large scale gambling for that very reason. The decision makers were in a no-lose situation, so there was very little restraint on how recklessly they behaved. I think they knew the people running the BoE would get them out of any resultant mess; personally I think the BoE was acting irresponsibly in not disabusing them of this assumption & should have issued very loud warnings, public if necessary, about the risks involved. It didn't happen

[Nuff Said 5,161]

Like I say, I’m no economist but in my simple mind, most western states got themselves some breathing room after the 2008 crash by using QE. So the BoE aren’t exceptional.