The political classes seem incapable of understanding why we have so many boom bust inflationary cycles. I want more MPs to be demanding a change of policy by the Bank so we can have a growth policy with lower tax rates and better funded core public services.
It is no accident or external force which gave us an inflation in 1975. It was the Ā Bank conducting a policy called competition and credit control badly leading to fast money growth and a secondary banking crisis. In 1977 it was an overspending over borrowing Labour government which ended with a humiliating trip to the IMF to bail us out.
In 1990-92 it was Bank and Treasury policy to put us into the European Exchange rate mechanism which ballooned the money supply backed by PM Major and gave us more inflation.
In 2007-9 it was Bank and Labour government policy to allow commercial banks to lend much more which led to inflation, egged on by high public spending and borrowing.
In 2023-4 the inflation came from Bank Quantitative easing and a big boost to the money supply.
In each case the Bank over corrected Ā for its errors pushing us into recession.
Why doesn’t the Bank learn from Ā this string of errors and give better advice?
April 14, 2024
Why doesnāt the Bank learn from this string of errors and give better advice?
Why indeed? Perhaps group think, incompetence, not in their personal interests, political pressures from incompetent ministers like Chancellor Sunak?
So Rishi Sunak has hit out at the ācomplete overreachā of an āillegitimateā ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that imposes a duty on governments to achieve net zero.
Yes Rishi but we all know this! So what are you going to do about it? Nothing I assume given your history on the ECHR and four of you five pledges. Hot air & zero action I assume. This is not the way to win elections.
Sunak is clearly in favour of the insane and even net zero agenda anyway. Just of going over the cliff slightly more slowly than Labour is not a sensible policy.
April 14, 2024
āinsane and evil net zero agendaā rather.
April 14, 2024
āThe Adoration of the Windmillsā
April 15, 2024
The UK to be the Saudi Arabia of Wind-Farm
April 14, 2024
Neither insane nor evil and as ever politically yours views have zero traction.
April 14, 2024
Net Zero is another Chairman Moa agenda, one that caused circa 60 million deaths.
Still some good news Caroline Lucas, the pleasant enough, climate alarmist, scientifically totally ignorant english graduate is retiring. Doubtless Brighton Pav. will find another deluded lefty climate alarmist dope to replace her. She has a book out it seems.
Perhaps she should stick to some nice novels did not do JK Rowling any harm.
She is not quite as deluded at Natalie Bennett and nothing like as unpleasant.
April 14, 2024
Perhaps no traction give the quality of politicians we have to suffer but what I say is surely correct.
April 15, 2024
LL is right : Net Zero is an artificial construct designed to save the planet from a greatly exagerated disaster that will be solved by science over the next 30 years. The rush towards crude and expensive interim solutions is just going to bankrupt the West who are the only nations falling for it.
It’s exactly like the ludicrous Y2000 scare that regulators force millions of us with businesses to spend an inordinate amount of time and money on. It proved to be a non-event as most of us thought.
At least Trump will reign back Biden’s hugely costly ideas while US buyers are already rejecting EVs because they are even more unsuitable in the US than they are here. Private buyers here have done the same. EV sales are only being made to companies by bribing them with over-generous tax incentives we are being forced to pay for !
April 14, 2024
Come on JR. Carney was extremely political, Osborne must have known this when appointed. Look at the public sector failings at the moment, all down to left wing selection procedures, DEI and S.172 Company Act, Equality rot by Blaire. Now embedded in every aspect of public life. From judiciary to policing to NHS. Look at your own party, why did Cameron take away the ability of local associations to select their own conservative candidates! Because he wanted to give a choice of three Pro EU left wing clones.
Why has your party and govt. done to change this over 14 yearsā¦ā¦..nothing, shockingly your party gold plated EU directives through quangos and Labourās policies. Look in the mirror. You must remember the huge amount of your colleagues conspiring with Labour or walking across the floor in 2019 ie Soubry, Wollaston, Allen. Other s like Letwin, Greive, Clarke openly working with Labour, even PM Treacherous May did so to Corbyn!! Others like Hammond held meetings at Parliament to work out how to betray the will of the people to leave the EU. The best they came up with was what sort of Brexit? There was only the choice of remain or leave on the ballet paper and Cameron had already made clear, trying to scare the nation, it meant leaving everything!
Bailey is a history graduate! Is it beyond your partyās wit to find someone like yourself who understands finance? If they must always appoint Oxbridge candidates why not someone who understands finance!
When your party and govt promote quota appointments do not be surprised you get quota idiots by the dozen!
April 14, 2024
The short answer is they are thick and not interested, it is what the BOE does nothing to do with us attitude.
April 14, 2024
Sunak will never leave the ECHR. It was reported that he said to Jenrick that retaining UK obligations under international law is a āred lineā for him. The Guardian was euphoric a couple of days ago at this latest ECHR ruling, and so is Ed Miliband no doubt. Our prosperity and way of life are being destroyed , with most politicians unconcerned. Reform of the Bank of England is of secondary importance by comparison.
April 14, 2024
@MPC. – the ECHR is not an international law. The international community, democracies and otherwise are not involved, have nothing to do with it
April 14, 2024
The BBC really is a sick joke.
Laura Kuenssberg this morning had the Health Secretary on. She asked her loads of question on Iran and Israel but answers came there not beyond things like āwe cannot give a running commentaryā, āwe will keep it under reviewā, I cannot say at this timeā¦ and other such guff. The only health question was on the mad, ban smoking by birth date lunacy. No serious answer to this either.
So nothing on the vast NHS waiting lists, the circa 10% of excess deaths, the many thousands of vaccine caused injuries and deaths, the circa 10 times increases in cardio problems post vaccines, the absurd waiting times for doctors and NHS operations, the very poor NHS outcomes in world ranking, the doctors strikesā¦ did Laura think she was the Foreign Sec. or Defence Sec. perhaps?
April 14, 2024
Last year, three-quarters of donations to the Tories came from just 10 people, an increase from 40 per cent in 2022 and the highest since 2001. Reported in the Sunday Telegraph. Seems odd that anyone wants to donate to a Conservative party that has so abjectly failed at everything and is about to bury itself for several terms. What do these people think they are buying I wonder?
Slightly less bad than Labour seems to be their only rather slight positive.
April 14, 2024
Contracts and honours I expect.
April 14, 2024
Yes I was thinking the same re honours. You can see MPs sucking up now to the inept Sunak to be rewarded when he goes down like the Titanic.
Re Sir JRs view, I would add intellectual pigmies, donāt rock the boat, self important, greasy pole climbers.
April 14, 2024
Lifelogic
They believe they are buying profit by getting policies which will be beneficial to their businesses. And they probably are! How many of those donors have invested heavily in Net Zero? We don’t know…and never will…
April 14, 2024
A typically absurd article in the Economist on the threats to your homes & houses from climate change. No the real threat is the net zero agenda. With mad governments forcing you to spend up to Ā£200k per home on heat pumps, insulation, new radiators, vast electricity grid and generating capacity, more wind farms, EV car chargers. Circa 5 years of GDP for zero advantage not even any energy bill savings as electricity so much more expensive than gas.
April 14, 2024
Whoah, it is increasing with every new post from LL.: Ā£200k now.
I have just read the culprit, the article in the Economist (11/04/2024 āGlobal warming is coming for your home: Who will pay for the damage?ā) It looks to me very balanced, taking examples from the USA and the huge increase in cost in two states, California and Florida, going from $160bn in 2017 to $633bn last year, and asking the questions: How long are the states (ie, the taxpayers) going to continue paying? When will the whole responsibility be passed back to the homeowners?
I cannot see the āabsurdityā seen by Lifelogic.
April 14, 2024
Hurricanes or wildfires are hardly new in those states though are they? If you want to learn some science about climate change (ie not from a Swedish drama queen) I suggest you watch the presentation to a lay audience by a physicist who has studied climate for many years, “How to Think About Climate Change” | William Happer.
April 15, 2024
What about not relying on climate simulations but on run-of-the-mill present day meteorological analysis carried out by various weather forecast (WF) centres.
Happer (who only became interested in
Ā“Climateā around 2015) is not particularly well known in the WF community. And Iām not sure he has anything particularly relevant to say about it.
April 14, 2024
yes, but with the Lucky Dip choosing of PM, perhaps they think eventually a decent one will be found!
April 14, 2024
Even if Tory MPs had a decent leader to vote for they would not vote for them. They even retained John Major who duly buried the party as was clear he would do. For 3 plus terms. Could well be even worse with Sunak.
April 14, 2024
Just a thought, maybe the party could ask the membership who’d they like as PM ….and stick to it
April 14, 2024
āThe political classes seem incapable of understanding why we have so many boom bust inflationary cycles.ā
Indeed but the political classes get almost everything wrong. The size of the state, the net zero religion, the lockdowns, the unsafe and largely ineffective Covid Vaccines, defence procurement, the absurdly high tax levels and tax complexity, the dire NHS structures, HS2, the road blocking agenda, the war on landlords and thus tenants, absurdly immigration levels and quality controls, housing policy, transport, energy, education, all the woke lunacy, the diversity over ability discriminationā¦
April 14, 2024
Plus all the hate laws and other such censorship, lies and evil propaganda enforced by the BBC and Ofcom and the Vaccines are āunequivocally safeā Sunak – despite the abundant statistics that show this is complete drivel.
April 14, 2024
Remember “When the Boat Comes In?” This made me smile:
Used to call him Dishy,
now they call him Fishy,
They’ll be no more Rishi,
When the vote comes in!
April 14, 2024
+1
April 14, 2024
Good morning.
Historically one thing leads to another and nothing can be looked at in isolation.
For example : The First World War lead to changes in attitude towards war. This is both understandable and quite right. When every house, street, village, town and city was negatively touched one cannot argue that people did not want to fight the second. And so on, and on.
After the Second World War and the Great Depression that preceded that, we began dismantling our Empire. We were broke and broken. We embarked on Nationalisation which, may have seem a good experiment at that time but, has led to many more problems. And I could go on.
The point to the above is, all these decision were political and in some cases, ideological. They were at a time of great change.
Another Great Change in on the way. We are seeing the rise of the BRICS and of Southeast Asia and the fall of the Anglosphere and the West. The political and economic centre of gravity is moving East and the sooner we come to accept this fact and that we are to have a much, much lower standard of living the better.
Not a great outlook, but will you ever see or hear anything from those in the political sphere who can only think of basking in the reflected glory of others and not acting in the best interests of this nation.
April 14, 2024
” The political and economic centre of gravity is moving East and the sooner we come to accept this fact, and that we are to have a much, much lower standard of living the better.”
The irony here is that it’s the youngsters that are crying out for ‘climate alarmism’ and must go vegan etc., who have a much better standard of living than us olden’s! It’s many of us oldens who can see what’s happening but no-one seems to listen!
“Not a great outlook, but will you ever see or hear anything from those in the political sphere who can only think of basking in the reflected glory of others and not acting in the best interests of this nation.”
That is the most worrying part. Either the political sphere can’t see what’s happening, or are clueless to what to do, or are wholly in awe of their Davos friends and co. telling them what to do!
Either way, it’s a scary future!
April 14, 2024
Younger people have been subjected to several decades of propaganda/indoctrination.
April 14, 2024
@sharon +1. The political class do see that hegemony is slipping out of their hands. Our greatest danger is this transition period, with a variety of western interest groups hoping that widespread war, combined with censorship and tighter control of their home populations will reverse the trend and shore up their power.
As Mark B says, they are not acting in the best interests of their nation. Some of the actors are deluded, some of them are simply acting in their own personal interest, and some of them a bit of both. It’s not good for the rest of us!
April 14, 2024
What do you mean āaccept the factā. Do you think we are spineless and have no control or choice?
What do you mean āpower is moving eastā? Power does not āmoveā itās LOST by FOOLS and the result was seen I Israel last night. It MUST be recovered by eliminating the FOOLS.
Go and give up somewhere else! Britain is not for giving up – we will fight, because we are deliberately being dragged down and we have not, so far, resisted.
We will!
April 14, 2024
Let us hope so. When will this happen after perhaps three terms or 15 years of Labour lunacy? Will I still be alive then?
Ditch net zero, get fracking and go for cheap reliable energy, a bonfire of red tape and cut the size of government.
April 14, 2024
Did you know before it set sail, the SS Titanic was lauded as unsinkable.
An iceberg put paid to that fantasy. All I am saying is, don’t make the same mistake(s).
April 14, 2024
One, oft repeated, defence of Sunak is that he inherited an appalling position. Well yes he did but one largely created by Chancellor Sunakās economic incompetence with QE, lockdowns, vast waste. Also he did not āinheritā it he deviously grasped it from Boris and Truss.
My main criticism of Sunak are his wrong headed policies:- Net Zero, tax levels, the size of government, open door immigration, over regulation, energy policies, the smoking by DoB ban, maths and english to 18, his bonkers anti-growth economic policies, failure to leave the ECHR, the Windsor Accord, lying that he has cut taxes and the Covid Vaccines are unequivocally safe, failing on 4 of his five promises (clearly not even trying)ā¦
April 14, 2024
Above all the vast and endless government waste and often rather clear corruption or buying of influence by vested interests.
April 14, 2024
The only reason Sunak is in Downing ST, is because he is ‘their’ (the WEF) boy.
April 14, 2024
+ 100 and it increasingly looks like he will be replaced by their other boy, Lord Dave of Greenshill Lobbying before long.
April 14, 2024
Indeed. Nadine Dorries interview today was interesting as was Sir John’s on GB News, a growing and now respected news source. Looks like the Snake will be gone after the local elections and Lord Greenshill put in as caretaker. Looks like our views that Gove, Shameron, Smith, Osborne etc have deliberately Liberalised the Tory Party selections and its central office are correct. Goodbye Tory’s, we need a conservative alternative, we need Reform. It’s time for a move Sir John, as they aren’t changing.
April 14, 2024
What time/programme was this on.
April 14, 2024
@LL
And if you were to check the UN website, how many of Sunak’s policies are on there? I’ll bet it would be all the silly ones such as sex education for all children from birth; stopping kids smoking from their birth date; maths education till 18, giving kids the freedom to change sex.
The important ones such as net zero, immigration etc are the ones the UN want to encourage….so those will be given short shrift and ignored by Sunak!
April 14, 2024
I don’t like to place blame on a particular individual, nor run down conspiracy rabbit-holes, in the mess; however, Mr Sunak is probably the most financially literate chancellor and PM that we’ve had for many a year. So lets not call him uneducated or inexperienced in financial matters. Therefore, the question that should be answered is WHY did he and BoE keep interest rates so low AND create so much lose money, with increased national debt, when they knew, from history, what the terrible effects would be?
April 14, 2024
Because he could see others were and wanted to follow, not lead. We have a follower as PM. Once that’s seen all is clear. Strangely Corbyn wouldn’t have been.
April 14, 2024
To advance the plans for a Digital Currency. Out of chaos ….. a “solution” will be devised.
April 14, 2024
Because they are institutionalised and have no actual thinking capacity. All named are financially illiterate proven by you observations of the consequences.
They donāt even understand the basic concept of supply and demand – which applied to money is monetarism.
April 14, 2024
Well he may be āwell educatedā and āexperiencedā in financial matters but despite this he got everything wrong:- Lockdowns, QE currency debasement, inflation of 11%, vast government waste on HS2, furlough, the net harm vaccines, eat out to help out, tax levels, the vast size of government, the lunacy of net zero and rip off renewable energy and he has failed on four of five of his promises – migration, debt, growth and NHS waiting lists.
Some ideas are so daft that only deluded āintellectualsā can possible believe in them! The people in referenda would make far better decisions on average.
April 14, 2024
Quite. Sunak and Hunt are the two men John needs to be demanding an answer to this question from!
April 14, 2024
Not only do we have mainly useless M.Ps but we also have if anything even more useless political commentators who can’t follow and assess even simple evidence. For instance they are all telling the public Sunak will cease being Conservative Party Leader either when (or soon after) a vote of confidence in him is lodged or after losing a General Election. I have yet to hear any commentator hazard what I now believe and what clear evidence indicates. I think the most likely thing is Sunak will simply resign immediately after this May’s local elections. It is what the evidence indicates:
– The most significant evidence is Sunak innovated with a special previously unheard of honours list a few weeks ago to reward his few friends with an honour. Surely that must mean Sunak himself believes he won’t be around to give out honours at the time of the next regular round of honours in June! (and he doesn’t want to risk the controversy over honours for his friends nowadays associated with honours)!
– We recently heard there is an alliance between leading left wing and right wing Conservative M.P.s to install Penny Mordaunt as Prime Minister which she has not even denied (incidentally though Mordaunt would do significantly better than Sunak at the next election, she is another relatively poor choice by clueless M.P.s, not least because as the one leading Conservative M.P. to have been sympathetic to ‘woke’ notions, she would hardly be able to weaponise the one issue where the Conservatives even now have a big advantage against Labour, transgenderism).
-Everybody overlooks the likelihood that Sunak would probably like to escape the ignominy of his legacy being either the first Prime Minister to lose a vote of confidence of his own M.P.s or even worse getting the worst election result for the Conservative Party in at least 150 years if not for ever.
So we shall see within a few weeks whether I am right and all the commentators are wrong over this or not!
Reply These kinds of speculation I assume are not based on any evidence drawn from the people involved. Why make this all up?
April 14, 2024
The issue of holding bureaucracy to account is simply not an issue that either concerns the public or indeed the average MP, until of course the issue becomes embedded in the wider public consciousness, only then does the public demand action to correct any perceived injustice.
I doubt most do not care nor understand such issues.
I know one thing. The data pumped out by various agents of the state including the BOE are by and large deliberately misleading and total trash. The solution is to employ people who are not politically infected and are beyond reproach.
April 14, 2024
No employees then. Good solution! Make them all compete in the Market. Letās see how smart they are.
April 14, 2024
BoE sound like theyāre in bed with the Climate Change Committee
April 14, 2024
Part of the Carney reforms.
April 14, 2024
+1
April 14, 2024
You asked why no other MPs challenged BoE thinking and behaviour. My guess is because they are either clueless about the issue or do not want to rock the BoE boat or, most likely, for both reasons.
April 14, 2024
Your earlier thoughts on the Bank having been put to my M.P. I was told:
– the Bank is and should remain independent of political interference,
– the purchase and sale of bonds is necessary to adjust to inflation, and
– it would not be approporiate for an M.P. to question the Bank’s methods of trying to acheive its statutory objective of 2 per cent, inflation!
I was minded to state “I will not ask how big the tax-payer funded losses would have to be before you thought it right to at least ask questions but do wonder what the purpose is of members of parliament if quangos like the Bank can operate scrutiny-free even when they do harm,” No reply has been made to me.
April 14, 2024
That MP knows they will continue until the result of the next GE, when they may be halted or even increased!
April 14, 2024
Who chose mr bernanke to do the review? He seems to have come up with the blobbish conclusion that whatās needed at the BoE is to expand the blob with some more highly paid public sector workers.
I suggest a better route would be to focus on diversity – of opinion. And perhaps invite people with diverse opinions to work for free.
April 14, 2024
Dream on! Much too sensible.
April 14, 2024
The reason, there is reluctance to allow the market forces to do the job market forces will always do would translate in loss of perceived function/loss of face at the BoE.
The desire to be seen to be ‘controlling’ the economy is what keeps the Old Lady on her pedestal.
AS for other MPs not demanding the BoE sticks to minor course corrections, rather than destination choices that should be left to the markets. Well, consider the calibre of other MPs and there is your answer. Whether they are having lewd pictures taken and lodged on the internet for fellow MPs to look at, i.e. those more interested in flim flam that actual politics. Or whether it is MPs unable to differentiate between Ā£6000 and Ā£600 million, i.e. those into wearing two left shoes at the same time, and paranoid about race. The evidence suggests we don’t have the calibre of representative in Westminster, that knows enough about the world of economics or how to run a country.
April 14, 2024
Well said Rod! The last paragraph sums up the situation precisely, to many MPās with low intelligence!
I could name quite a few, including the one I am lumbered with!
As a protest it will be Reform UK next time as there are no labour in the South West, only Lib/cons.
April 14, 2024
Sir JR, you are clearly passionate about the Bank of England and how it functions. Usually I am interested to read your thoughts, but after a week of this, the blog has for me, become a bore.
You are aware the country is heading down the pan rapidly?
You are aware the Conservative party is dissolving as we approach a General election?
You are aware the country is being filled with immigrants, mostly Muslim, and the identity of the country is being changed a rate never before seen in history.
You are aware the media and politicians constantly remind us of the threat from the ‘far-right’ When in fact there have been no significant ”far-right’ attacks for years?
Though violent and murderous attacks around the world from radical Islam have taken thousands of lives in the last two decades or so?
Reply You do not have to read my blogs. The whole point of my Bank blogs is to change the weather about taxation, public spending, and who runs the economy. I have done so at a time when the Bank and its reviewer admit they got it badly wrong. I often also write about and campaign to make a large cut in legal migration .
April 14, 2024
reply to reply. You could begin to focus on the likely outcomes vis a vis an incoming Labour government, and how this might be influencing BOE behaviour. Does selling bonds and tightening into a recession now give scope for buying bonds back and opening the QE taps again for Labour to spend?
April 14, 2024
reply to reply …but reducing 1,200,000 to perhaps 900,000 annually is not a large cut.
What happened to the ‘single figures(of thousands)’ and the ‘reducing immigration’ when it has increased year by year?
April 14, 2024
I can’t see this government reducing immigration (legal or not) before, during or after the election
April 14, 2024
The reason why other MPs don’t follow SJR’s lead and take issue with BoE policy is that few of them have any idea about finance and the economy. You get some idea of this if you look at their blogs, which in the main do not focus on economic issues. It is really no surprise that according to opinion polls the Tories are now trusted less on the economy than Labour. Yet so many MPs are PPE graduates, including the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Perhaps this makes sense, though, if PPE is a degree where the political dominates the economic aspects.
April 14, 2024
Certainly agree many Mp’s seem to not have any Financial expertise, likewise few seem to have any real economic or commercial business experience.
Too many are simply prepared to follow/tow the Party line on any subject or policy without any personal thought or challenge. Thus if the leader says jump, most just ask how high.
Yes there are a few independent thinkers, but like our host they are deliberately kept on the back benches, well away from the usual discussions and policy planning meetings, try as they may those with more experience than the decision makers can try and influence policy with suggestions and comment, but it would appear that little notice is ever taken, as the group think ministers drive through their senseless polices with the help of the whips.
In times gone by we had big industrialists and trade Union members in Parliament, and whilst at times this lead to huge confrontation at least It meant a proper and more open debate, now it is all behind closed doors and promoted by complicated spin, but no substance.!
April 14, 2024
Like my MP, who has NEVER worked in the private sector in his life.
April 14, 2024
The āEā part is pure indoctrination. Actually probably the āP parts too.
April 14, 2024
Other MPs however are very interested in setting out guidance for the BoE with regard to greenwashing anything that moves.
āSDRā, a āSustainable Finance Roadmapā and a āGreen Finance Strategyā.
Surely all that matters far more than economic stability?
What more could a country wish for.
April 14, 2024
Indeed the damage being done by deterring investments in fossil fuels and sensible investments and pushing it towards renewables, EV vehicles, road blocking and HS2 types of āinvestmentā lunacy.
April 15, 2024
Global warming is not coming to 90% of British homes anytime soon : if at all, but certainly not for 50 years, at least.
We have already cut UK emissions by 50%, much more than the rest of the world. We should therefore pause and wait for other countries to catch up. In the meantime, we should retain and expand our oil and gas production and build lots of SMRs to Rolls-Royce designs. That way we can be energy self sufficient.
By the time the rest if the world has caught up, vastly improved techological solutions will have been developed.
We can then proceed at a pace that matches other countries like China and India.
We do not need to lead the world : it’s nothing but virtual posturing : the leading polluters are standing watching while we bankrupt ourselves, and having a good laugh at our stupidity.
April 14, 2024
The answer to your question is that they don’t really understand, and think that they’re leaving it to experts. They also don’t care. Nobody, including himself, sees Sunak continuing in this role for more than a few months. There’s bound to be more focus among your colleagues on where they’re are heading, and it’s not as an MP.
From the morning after the Brexit referendum, your party had its chance to rip up the status quo in the name of democracy. It let Cameron cry off into the bush. It let a confused, hopeless negotiator in May take over and waste three years. It let Johnson go wayward from his promises to voters. It threw its next democratically elected leader under the bus, replacing her with a sixth former wastrel type. It’s a miracle that your party still polls above 10 percent. It’s a dead parrot.
April 14, 2024
Why do no other MPs challenge the thinking? Because they are not trained, or expert, in the area. Anyone can become an MP – there are no qualifications. Just look at some of them!
When listing the āinflation eventsā of the last 50 years, you have missed out the biggest, almost continuous event – the relentless increase in borrowing that has fuelled house prices growth.
From the Nationwide Building Society house price index. UK national average.
1974 – property worth Ā£10,000
2024 – property now worth Ā£262,000
Inflation of 2526%
The Bank of England helpfully has a calculator that lets you see inflation over any period.
1974 – Goods costing Ā£10,000
2024 – Those goods now cost Ā£92,000
Thatās where you have failed. So much of our money these days goes to putting a roof over our head. If the average house price had not been allowed to rise so much, if the average house price was now Ā£92k – think how much money people would have to spend!
April 14, 2024
1974 based RPI is now at ~1500, so the Bank is trying to hide a lot of the inflation it caused. ONS series CDKO.
April 14, 2024
So nothing linked to the end of the Bretton Woods system? One could wonder why some did history at Oxford.
April 14, 2024
Keep trying John, you may get there in the end, goodness knows we need someone who understands finance to make a difference.
I guess you were not asked by Mr Bernanke for your thoughts, was anyone outside of the BOE ?
April 14, 2024
“Why do no other MPs want to stop the Bank of England mistakes?”
Possibly:
1. Most of them don’t understand anything about banking (or a great deal else, it often seems)
2. Most of them want the money plus a quiet life – and aren’t prepared to rock the boat
3. Those actually in power are bought and paid for
4. Those who could effect change are more concerned about their future Globalist employment prospects than doing what’s right for the UK
5. Those who are implementing the economy-wrecking processes are part of a Global “project.” Perhaps they think they will Build Back Better if first they participate in the wrecking process.
I’m starting to see a lot of warnings that there is going to be a major currency collapse later this year – and lots of recommendations to buy gold. But of course, group-think could be in operation and it’s always very sensible to check who is giving advice and to think for yourself (as we saw with the Covid jabs).
April 14, 2024
I’m sorry if this has been placed before.
Liz Truss considered sacking the leaders of the Bank of England and the Treasury and abolishing the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) during her tenure as prime minister.
The former prime minister said the plan to take on āthis three-headed hydraā would have been a ādeclaration of war on the economic establishmentā.
In an extract from her new book, Ten Years to Save the West, serialised by the Daily Mail, Ms Truss wrote that the three organisations had āpresided over the drift of economic policy in Britain for 30 yearsā and were ābarriers to our plansā. āWe just had to work out how we were going to approach this three-headed hydra,ā she wrote.
āOne option was to go in very hard, abolish the OBR ā whose financial forecasts, I pointed out, are always wrong ā and appoint new senior leaders in the Bank of England and Treasury who were prepared to challenge the status quo. āBut this would have amounted to a declaration of war on the economic establishment. It would also have taken time we didnāt have.ā
Shame she’s gone.
April 14, 2024
Shame she didn’t have her plan fully worked out in advance. She needed to appoint a new Governor immediately but failed to recruit one. She needed to have announced a system for academic and city forecasters to submit their forecasts, with a beauty prize for accuracy while cancelling the OBR. Sacking a Treasury mandarin was quite inadequate.
She ought to have chosen a more able Chancellor with practical experience.
April 14, 2024
Agree – shame she’s gone
April 14, 2024
The losses on bond sales are so staggeringly huge that kicking up a fuss would alert taxpaying voters. We are talking about sums which could build railways or buy private health care to end waiting lists. Best not to embarass Mr Sunak and his shoo in next door.
April 14, 2024
They are not interested because the BofE is a Quango. If politicians say anything they are afraid they will get the blame.
The reason they donāt say anything is they have no experience of fiscal policy. The reason they have no experience of fiscal policy is the BofE is a quango. A circular reinforcing problem.
Because you were one of last MPs who were around when the BofE functions were minsters responsibilities then you have the experience, so you can question their mistakes.
In order for the BofE to be accountable ministers need to have more involvement in BofE functions.
This tells you the BofE function ls need to be gradually given back to ministers so they get experience again, but slowly.
April 14, 2024
This begs a bigger principle. A regulator needs experience of the thing they are regulating. In the case of ministers then ministers need to be more involved.
This might simply mean creating another tier of junior ministers. Letās call them regulatory ministers who are involved in the civil service at a much deeper level. I would even say that every ruling MP needs to become involved in the function of Government after their first term in the house.
April 14, 2024
Why donāt we have lower tax rates ? Because weāve got a left-wing tax-and-spend Conservative government who donāt want low taxes because they donāt want to reduce spending. The only odd thing is that you support them by voting for all that in their budgets but then complain.
April 15, 2024
and when the citizens are taxed to the hilt they have little freedom of choice to do what might be difficult to control.
April 14, 2024
Personally I am disappointed that there are only 3 candidates for my local police and crime commissioner election from each of the usual mono parties. All predictable in their outlook and background. Exactly the kinds of people we don’t want in elected office.
April 14, 2024
If we had ‘none of the above’ and over 50% voted for ‘none of the above’ than that office should be scraped
April 14, 2024
Too much created money sloshing around, but given to the populace to spend and create demand. 2010-2016 created money gave us asset and house price hyper inflation. None of which is helped by having too many people spending the created money.
You can not import population and hold prices.
April 14, 2024
Absolutely agree! Are the majority of our MPs lacking any intelligence or understanding of the way the economy works. They all seem in favour of Net Zero, which a little time spent researching can prove is nonsense, a policy that damages the UK, but don’t seem interested in doing anything that actually helps the UK.
April 14, 2024
SirJ I fully agree with your posed question today ā further, why donāt our MPs question the three Ā£trillion of debt, our continued Ā£billions of spend on foreign aid and the Ā£trillions to be spent on net-zero
April 14, 2024
If the media takes this seriously something will be done about it.
The recent Angela Rayner story was almost completely ignored by the BBC but it was taken up by other media. The police finally reacted to this, forcing the BBC to report it.
This proves, that the poor BoE performance can be corrected even if the BBC ignores it but only if other media take it up.
Reply. GB News ran my Bank and Green critiques this morning
April 14, 2024
To be faircthe BBC we’re pursuing that story when it first came up. They did accept her at her word but she was pressed on it on Newsnight
April 14, 2024
But apparently the BBC edited their interview of Rayner to portray her in a more favourable light. You are not allowed to complain to OFCOM about that without the Kafkaesque process of many months complaining to the BBC first.
April 14, 2024
SirJ well done on your interview this morning on GB News ā¦.thanks for highlighting the BoEs errors
April 14, 2024
+1
April 14, 2024
+1. A true conservative in a sea of disingenuous Liberal greens.
April 14, 2024
I am afraid many MPs these days regard themselves as a branch of the Social Services, rather than as challengers to the Government. It has seemed to me particularly surprising though, that none of the opposition parties have done anything to challenge the poor performance of the Bank. You would have thought it was a wide open goal for them.
April 14, 2024
We donāt have an effective loyal opposition because we have a socialist government, a socialist bank and a socialist opposition ā¦.job done
April 14, 2024
Why would a (foreign owned company ed) be giving money to the xxxx Party other than to buy influence? ( Rules against foreign political donations only allow donations from UK registered businesses trading in UK . If you have any evidence of illegal donations then report them. I do not know of any ed) Then why would any Foreign owned entity be buying into the UK Political system if it wasnāt to buy influence.
What we have is individuals that are seemingly not constituents and not personal taxpayers wanting to ābuyā their way into deciding how and who the UK Voters get to choose to be the next representative and leaders of the UKās political scene. That is not tenable in a Democratic Society
The real flaw in a having representative democracy in the UK in the UK, is the removal of the constituent, the voter from the equation. While it is theoretical possible for constituents to choose who stands in the election and ultimately who gets to represent them, the wall of money that is throw at campaigning by all and sundry defines the corruption from to bottom of the UKs Political Class.
April 14, 2024
A UK subsidiary of an international news organisation made a donation reported by the Electoral Commission here
https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Donations/C0575062
April 14, 2024
Because all existing Parliamentary Parties and a majority of MPs are signed up to either Marxist or WEF feudalist ideologies which require the impoverishment of the UK and thence the cessation of democracy.
To achieve their ends they use captured unelected international and national bodies to enact policies they dare not admit to the electorate they support.
Thus we have PM May signing us up to the UN Global Compact for Migration. The ECHR is also used to ensure mass immigration, legal and illegal, continues into the West and now has been instructed to mandate that the West must āprotectā its citizens by tackling climate change. All policies for which there is no democratic mandate.
Note that our Government (aka we through our taxes) funds those organisations which not only lobby for mass immigration and Net Zero but actually take the Government to court (UK High Court or the ECHR) for falling behind with the implementation of these policies.
The āmistakesā of the unelected BoE described are just further examples of policies designed to boost impoverishment as is those of the CCC, DESNZ the HO, The Treasury, the Civil Service and many quangos, institutions and regulatory organisations in the UK, backed up if necessary by the unelected at UN and ECHR etc..
April 14, 2024
Well said Richard.
April 14, 2024
Sir John
Create an entity to fulfil a task or function then human nature from those involved before carrying out was requested is first to protect themselves. In the first instance that means building a shield around the person at the top, building the empire. The next trick is through smoke and mirrors to make this new empire indispensable. Indispensability in State funded and run departments inevitably become political organization in their own right. The flaw and threat to Society is the are not accountable or responsible for anything, it is the Government that is held to account. Yet we have a Conservative Government the HoC all MPās frightened to say boo to these internal political entities ā does that mean the tail is wagging the dog?
Would the UK have been any different with or without the BoE. If it was just an administrative department within the Treasury run by a Chancellor would not the UK have been a better place?
April 14, 2024
The BoE was established in 1694, freeing the nation from the previous dependence of Kings on foreign lenders for some of their adventures as a delayed part of the reformation other monarchy and system of government. It allowed the bail out if the Scots in 1707, and helped finance the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of empire, creating the Sterling zone and a truly global financial system from which the UK benefitted enormously.
No mere Treasury could have done that because it would be too close to government. Indeed, the US secured dollar hegemony by adopting a similar structure for the Fed.
April 15, 2024
@Mark – but the UK shouldn’t be controlled by the BoE. The BoE refused independence by enforcing a weak Chancellor and Government to take money from the Taxpayer to cover their loses.
“Taxpayers will have to foot a Ā£150bn bill to cover cumulative losses on the Bank of Englandās bond buying”
“NHS cost to the taxpayer 2022/23 was Ā£181.7 billion.”
“UK yearly spending on Defence 2024 – Ā£51.7 billion”
While the idea was reasonable the BoE appears to have become an unelected unaccountable political entity that get the Taxpayer to bail them out. All taxpayer money should at all times have democratic oversight
April 15, 2024
The BoE started getting into difficulty a century ago as it tried to handle the aftermath of WW I. By 1931 Churchill had it leave the gold standard. Financing WW II and the loss of empire and the income from that further strained its position. After joining the EU, our international trade position deteriorated to chronic deficit, financed by selling off our companies and increasing the mortgages on our homes by borrowing abroad through the banking system. The bank never seemed to alert politicians to the dangers, and still doesn’t.
April 14, 2024
There are few MPs -if any , with the economic background that Sir John has – hence one of the reasons there is little aspect of revolt about the BoE . The other reason is the reluctance to act against the general leadership of 10 Downing Street . Where the guts and determination can come from to cause the drastic change that is necessary before a General Election is impossible to detect at this stage ; I continue to despair .
April 14, 2024
How come Bobby Moore never received a knighthood even though Pele said Bobby was the greatest defender he ever played?
And Bobby only got an OBE when Paula Vennells got a CBE?
I think the Tories should honour him in some way to make up for the failure to knight him in life, sending a strong message that effort will be duly awarded, including to working-class Tories.
April 14, 2024
The Post Office management having received these honours discredits them. They’re another part of a system which needs tearing from top to bottom. Debt, plague or war? Which will finally prompt the change needed?
April 14, 2024
Ed M,
That was the way it was back in the day. Nowadays Michael Jagger and Rodney Stewart receive knighthoods, as did Thomas Jones. Though the Duke of Edinburgh could not stand listening to Jones at Royal Command performances.
April 14, 2024
Hello. It’s not ‘Thomas Jones’ as his real name is Thomas Woodward! ‘Tom Jones’ is just a stage name ..
My main point though was to compare Bobby Moore with Paula Vennells. Ms Vennells getting a higher honour than the great Bobby Moore (absurd) ..
April 14, 2024
It always amused me that footballers were usually given lower awards than players of more āupmarketā games like Cricket, Tennis or Rugby Union. When I when to my Northern Grammar nearly all the children wanted to play football as they all had at primary school, but were all forced to play rugby as then they could play against the posher local private schools. All my long honed round ball skills tragically wasted. By the time I went to Cambridge and played again my abilities had rather faded beyond repair.
April 15, 2024
I say old chap, we play rugger here, don’t cha know!
April 14, 2024
Why arenāt MPs more enraged about the United Nations, its control over sovereign countries, its dubious funding & corruption, its membership ie Russia, Iran & Yemen but not Taiwan
April 14, 2024
Why donāt our MPs question our involvement & adherence of the World Economic Forum (WEF) UN
April 15, 2024
Because Taiwan is not internationally recognised as an independent country, Glen. Unlike Russia, Iran and Yemen.
April 15, 2024
I was highlighting the crazy position of allowing countries remain in the UN while contravening and attacking fellow member countries, and allowing china to openly influence other member countries so that Taiwan never reaches that 50% member recognition count to become a member ā¦.its totally corrupt
April 15, 2024
Chinese whispering ….who builds your railways, roads, mining wealth, pays for your students to go to top universities?
April 14, 2024
The obvious answer is that they have neither the knowledge or experience – In other words they don’t understand what is going on. They rely on briefing papers to tell them how to vote.
This suggests the average intelligence of MPs is far below adequate for the job, and a better way needs to be employed in selecting candidates. They either need some years experience in business or something else that marks them as being able to think for themselves.
The basic fact is that too many MPs follow like lemmings and have not the ability to attack bad or suppressive ideas.
April 14, 2024
O/T: 13/09/2023 gov.uk āBristol set to host UKās most powerful supercomputer to turbocharge AI innovationā.
Isambard 3 might already be operational and the Isambard-AI configuration will soon be. The computer is physically based in the Bristol/Bath area and will be in the list of the Top500 supercomputers. (bristol.ac.uk, 01/11/2023 āUnprecedented Ā£225m investment to create UKās most powerful supercomputer in Bristolā). Isambard uses 5448 ARM-v8 CPUs/NVidia GPUs.
Also, Three EuroHPC supercomputers are among the first ten in the Top500 list (Lumi at #5, Leonardo at #6, Marenostrum5 at #8) (eurohpc-ju.europa.eu). Isambard should join them within these first ten.
It would seem that there still is life within the supercomputer corpse ā¦
April 14, 2024
and after hundreds of hours and zillions of calculations it will announce ‘there are aliens out there’.
Who’d a thought it?
April 22, 2024
I expect you to laugh at your own jokes. But taking only the HMRC computers they can relate an individual to Tax returns obviously (VAT, PAYE, income tax, corporation tax returns) but also to:
bank accounts and pensions, online social networking (Facebook et al.), credit reference agencies, Amazon eBay Gumtree and similar sales websites, credit and debit cards accounts, online payment providers (Paypal et al.), travel information including flights and insurance, Government agencies (Companies House, Land Registry, Border Agency), foreign tax jurisdictions (those with treaties and automatic exchange agreement or common reporting standards), property websites (Rightmove, Zoopla, ā¦), Google Street View, Council Tax records, DVLA records, DWP records, Electoral roll, Insurance companies, Charities Commission, plus a few other more hidden ones.
I hope youāre still laughing.
April 14, 2024
They’ll never learn because only they know best. And when it goes wrong, they are never to blame.
Such is the disease that permeates throughout Government and the Public Sector today. It even exists within the Private Sector, although it is the shareholders, rather than taxpayers, who have to pay for the collateral damage.
There can be only be a rapid resolution, else this country is in for a severe hiding, as we’re fast running out of time.
Surely salaries and bonuses must be conditional upon positive results? And failures must mean “services no longer required” AND without those huge golden handshakes that appear to be the norm today.
Who is writing the contracts for these people to always be in a win-win situation where failure is rewarded? I wish I get in on it.
April 14, 2024
Remuneration Committees ….aka you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
Friends of friends.
April 14, 2024
Congratulations on your long running campaign to get the Bank to update its economic modelling. I see that Bernanke , ex head of the Fed, has now also made very serious criticisms of the Bank āa outdated model.Letās hope this leads to some prompt action; the country cannot afford the policy mistakes the Bank keeps making.
Personally I think the Bank should lose its independence and the OBR should be stood down.
April 14, 2024
Because the vast majority of MPs are purely globalist puppets. They do not give a flying fig about tbeir constuents or the country. Nice pension and perks though.
April 14, 2024
Why was the failure as head of the useless FCA appointed head of the Bank of England?
Do the politicians somehow think the performance of the FCA is anywhere near acceptable?
Why are the FCA and Financial ombudsman service allowed to run complaints departments which are called “independent” but are clearly not?
April 14, 2024
214 in 5 boats yesterday ….is Sunaks plan still working and why aren’t MPs bothered
April 14, 2024
I’ve just been reading up on the Met-Office data errors ……please vist this website that reviews the Met-Office own data sets and its forecast (and if they don’t get the numbers they want, they invent a new model)
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/04/14/man-made-global-warming/#more-72749
But are our MPs interested in the weather facts
April 14, 2024
An increasing number of MPs are not very bright.
Another increasing number is those who are in it for themselves – careerists.
Some are part of the deep State.
None of these cares enough to both understand and fix the problem.
April 14, 2024
The BofE mistakes are NOT mistakes.