With no sense of irony the Governor in his global capacity working for financial stability warned against excessive borrowings for AI possibly leading to a sell off in AI shares which could lead to a collapse of bonds. Well he should know. It was the announcement of a large sales programme of UK government bonds just before the Truss budget that helped collapse the gilt market. This was proven when the Bank reversed its sales policy and wiped out much of the bond damage almost as soon as it had happened. It took Labour and its higher spending and borrowing plans to take interest rates well above the worst Truss level and keep them there throughout 2025 and 2026 to date.
This is not the first warning of possible market falls we have had from the Governor. He warned in April of a private debt led collapse, after correctly identifying a big build up of such debt. He now seems more concerned about AI and leverage ownership of shares though e mentions private debt in passing.
I am against the Bank issuing such general warnings and gloomy forecasts. If the Governor thinks tec based borrowing is excessive then he has a range of powers to stop that being true in the UK banking system. As it is more likely to be happening in the US than in the UK he can have a firm and private conversation with the Head of the Fed who can do something about it in the US. The UK needs more tec investment, not less. Putting out a general warning either makes him look foolish when the forecast turns out to be wrong, or weak if it is right and he has taken no regulatory measures to stop it.
September 1, 2026
Good morning.
There was a time when the closest one got to know the Governor of the Bank of England was through his signature on a bank note, such was his obscurity. All financial information and action came either from the Chancellor of the Exchequer or, the Treasury.
With the creation of a so called, ‘independent’ BoE, we now seem to have a rival for air time on financial matters with the government. And I am not too sure if this is a good thing. In my view our institutions have gone rogue and the power of both the government and parliament, and by extension the people, have been seriously eroded. The TB Reforms have failed and none of the main parties seem interested, much less prepared, to do anything about. They ALL seemed resigned to failure, just hoping it is not on their watch.
September 1, 2026
It will be interesting to see what stunt he pulls if a Right Wing government is elected at the next GE. The BoE was instrumental in the downfall of Truss because she was a disruptor and wasn’t following the WEF guidelines.
As for AI, I think we have the making of another year 2000 tech bubble about to burst and leaving lots of people with a hangover.
The interesting thing with AI is the sudden rash of DataCentres springing up consuming vast amounts of power and water. It seems net zero doesn’t apply to the tech sector when they are allowed to install banks of unabated diesel generators because renewables aren’t reliable, but evidently good enough for the population at large.
September 1, 2026
Re AI data centres consuming vast quantities of water. See John Mauldin’s letter of 24 August which explains all of the USA AI data centres are using a fraction of the water the USA uses to maintain their golf courses. Compared with agricultural demand, AI water use is an insignificant drip.
Be careful what you believe when the media promotes a “problem”.
September 1, 2026
Indeed fresh water then evaporated to the air may be the cheapest way to cool these things but plenty of other ways you could use closed loops of the same water as in a war, sea water cooling, air cooling… you could even use sea water cooling which then left desalinated water and sea salt behind. Or you can use the waste heat to heat building with heatpumps or directly.
But the UK is not short of water just of water storage facilities. It is short of cheap, reliable, on demand electricity. It also has mad quangos and red tape that will demand £multi million bat tunnels and fish discos etc. They will also like everything else be hugely over taxed.
September 1, 2026
Indeed the Old Battersea power station used its cooling water to heat up the local housing estates way back in the 1950’s, so you are correct hardly a new idea, just needs a bit of common-sense, fore thought. and sensible planning, which many people seem to forget, Yet again lessons not learn’t from the past !
September 1, 2026
Currently a water advert on TV with children has a little boy saying we are using too much water and nature is not replacing it sufficiently. How minds are manipulated.
September 1, 2026
“The Governor of the Bank of England needs to give himself a yellow card” at least – but the Burnham, Healey and Doom Loop Labour need red cards as bond rates today hit the highs that Brown and his duff regulators & “experts” caused in the banking crash 2008.
September 2, 2026
@miami.mode – indeed the endless alarmist propaganda pushed by the BBC on climate alarmism is vast.
A very convenient excuse:- The Call to Action: Nepali Prime Minister Shah urged the international community to recognize growing climate risks in the Himalayas and step up support. UN climate officials echoed these warnings, noting the extreme fragility of mountain ecosystems.
Does anyone really thing the way to prevent & reduce such deaths events is to reduce manmade CO2 emissions? Rather than to monitor mountains better and issue warnings. Snow, ice, rocks, water… have been falling down mountains for as long as mountains have existed. Ask for help from the Swiss, French, Germans, Austrians… on monitoring systems warning alarms and other adaptations.
September 1, 2026
But many of the US data centres are using closed loop cooling because there’s plenty of power. UK centres are predominantly using total loss systems due to lack of sufficient power to run fin/ fan coolers. At least agricultural use feeds people. Data centres don’t.
September 1, 2026
In the 1800s did they say “At least agricultural use feeds people, steam engines don’t”? We need AI and we need to manage resources. The 2 are not mutually exclusive.
September 1, 2026
Well Data Centres feed people’s many other personal and business demands. In the UK water is plentiful and quite cheap anyway so open loop is usually cheapest especially given rip off energy cost we have – we just need a bit more reservoir storage. Non potable or salt water or just air can easily cool too.
September 1, 2026
The signature on a banknote is the Chief Cashier (currently Victoria Cleland) so the Governor can probably claim “well it’s all her fault, she handles the cash”.
September 1, 2026
Meanwhile Mr. Burnham makes his first appearance in parliament. Interesting to see how that goes.
September 1, 2026
Kemi says she is glad the Prime Minister did not bring his guitar with him. It was her best line.
I would have been amused if Burnham had gone full David Brent though.
After that Kemi dropped off a bit. The boats and the dire state of the economy and funding benefits were not hammered home.
September 1, 2026
Such a statement of the obvious not sure whether it was more laughable or embarassing. Maybe he even found out from his G20 peers in the Carolina mountains where he is currently enjoying his latest expensed junket.
A low grade governor sadly and one who will always be wise after the event.
September 1, 2026
Agreed. Andrew “Bunter” Bailey doesn’t have a strong track record…
September 1, 2026
I see Van Der Leyen is warning EU citizens of a ‘Bale-in’.
Thank God for Brexit!
September 1, 2026
Idle Savings: Von der Leyen noted that roughly €10 trillion in European household savings sits idle in bank accounts or is invested outside the EU.Investment Push.
She proposed using these private savings to better support European businesses and economic growth through improved market integration and securitisation.
No Bail-in Warning: Her statements focused on mobilizing capital for investments, not confiscating or bailing-in depositor funds
So not confiscating them quite yet just making you “invest” them how they tell you to. So doubtless rather less well.
September 1, 2026
Well we did not get a full & real Brexit we got a dire botch and Starmer and Burnham were appallingly undoing even bits we had – Fishing, the Turing Scheme, NI, EU immigration…
September 1, 2026
Lynn- with bond yields creeping forever upwards Von der Leyen is correct and loose cash hanging around in deposit accounts is also in real danger of being swallowed if countries and banks go wallop. But the same can also be said for Britain – and brexit won’t save us so better keep it under the mattress.
September 2, 2026
STORED as gold under the bed or buried in the garden perhaps?
Gordon Brown sold roughly half of the UK’s gold reserves at an average price of about $275 to $276 per troy ounce between 1999 and 2002 then he crashed the banks about 5 years later. More £ and $ devaluation really.
The current gold spot price is approximately $4,303.06 USD per troy ounce.
September 1, 2026
From FT:- “US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent sends signal that he expects Bank of Japan to raise rates soon”. Silence from central bankers is so passe LJ.
Everyone (except Parliament) knows there are serious worries about overblown AI and private equity investment.
Reuters tells us:- Historically, cheap Japanese capital has acted as a pillar for foreign debt markets. With domestic 10-year yields finally offering competitive returns at 3%, there is a substantial global risk that large Japanese institutional players will repatriate trillions of dollars back home, potentially starving US Treasuries and European bonds of vital capital.
This is exactly what Bessent’s moves a few days ago were meant to avoid – bad for America. But reality is not fooled even for the US.
Expect interest rates to go up. The BoE governor is a minor player and everyone and his dog (except Parliament) has figured out interest rates are going up. The days when the BoE raised a metaphorical eyebrow and the world trembled are long long over.
I am greatly comforted by the knowledge that BoE staff of all kinds are permitted to wear eye shadow and high heels. Mr Bessent will be so pleased.
September 1, 2026
The global insurance industry has experienced structural shocks from the accelerating climate emergency, causing global natural catastrophe insured losses to consistently exceed $100 billion annually. This systematic escalation has forced top-tier reinsurers like Swiss Re and Munich Re to radically reprice technical premiums. In some risk-heavy regions, premium spikes of up to 50% have been reported, alongside widespread retreats and policy cancellations
Total worldwide economic losses from global heating effects reached $224 billion in 2025, with less than half of that figure actually covered by insurance
“Secondary perils”—which include severe convective storms (thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes), wildfires, and local floods—accounted for a record 92% of all insured catastrophe payouts
Swiss RE noted last month that the global natural catastrophe protection gap – the total value of economically exposed assets completely lacking insurance coverage – surpassed $424 billion in 2025
Wildfire destruction has turned into the fastest-expanding disaster metric globally, with insured losses scaling up at an average compound rate of 12% per year
Based on standard UK property valuation metrics, rebuilding timelines and historic UK wildfire precedents (such as the remarkably similar 2022 Wennington wildfire), the industry loss from the Stourbridge disaster – where 18 properties were declared a total loss – is estimated to sit between £20 million and £25 million. Source:- BBC
September 1, 2026
SG
Worry not the insurance companies will be excluding all sorts of present claims for future coverage on newer policies, and upping the excess on many other presently legitimised claims, rest assured they will not lose out !
Present house insurance not covered by Riot and War, how long before so called wild fires and floods.?
September 1, 2026
Not to mention Nepal and surrounding areas.So sad.
September 1, 2026
Firstly, insurance companies just love how the climate alarmists ramp up their false claims of an “accelerating climate emergency” as it frightens the populace into accepting higher premiums and thereby generating increasing profits. Of course losses will increase as 1) population increases 2) lives on flood plains, coastal regions and in forests never previously inhabited 3) companies reduce maintenance and blame climate change when disasters occur 4) inflation. Secondly annual fatalities from natural disasters have dropped by over 90% from their peak in the 1920s. Deaths from extreme weather events have fallen by 98% over the past century. This is of course all because of the improvements made possible by fossil fuels. Thirdly, as the planet slowly warms, extreme weather decreases. This is because the energy for weather is derived from the difference is temperature between the equator and the poles/higher latitudes and as the planet warms this temperature difference decreases and hence the energy for extreme weather decreases.
September 1, 2026
I was a little surprised to learn that, whilst the Governor was a student, he chaired the Cambridge University Fabian Society.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/02/18/andrew-bailey-student-politician-stickler-rules/
In his professional life, Bailey was apparently well respected as:
George Osborne chose him as FCA chief.
George Osborne appoints Andrew Bailey as FCA chief | Financial Conduct Authority | The Guardian https://search.app/rDWe2mfxBtcBJ2rG6
…and Sajid Javid appointed him as Governor.
Chancellor’s Statement on the Governor of the Bank of England – GOV.UK https://search.app/S6fhnaAdS1kMPmp46
September 1, 2026
An undesirable result of BoE ‘independence’ is we hear far too much general pontification from the governor, well outside the governor’s normal scope.
Mr Carney used the position to campaign for the UK to adopt green, expensive energy policy irrespective of the cost, in order to set an example to the world. He expressed opinions on the valuations of companies’ businesses and assets (he thought fossil fuel assets would be worth zero, being “stranded”). he argued it was essential to remain part of the neighbouring federal union, and when Brexit was voted for he said a deal was always better than no deal. On all these issues in Canada, where he is elected and is answerable to an electorate, he argues for the opposite. I wonder what he really thinks? Perhaps policies that are right for Canada would be wrong for the uk for some reason. We will have to wait for his memoirs I suppose.
This governor has also opined on trade policy, supporting the current govt’s desire to become an EU rule taker. And now he also expresses a view on the valuations and strategy of very large, mainly US, companies. What analysis and assumptions about the future has gone into this and what qualifications mr Bailey has on the topic we don’t know. As pointed out above, he has impacted domestic politics with his foolish monetary interventions.
If the governor of the BoE is to have such broad general powers over us and on wide areas of policies I think the time has come for him or her to be directly elected.
September 1, 2026
@Richard1 – I have to disagree with you there. The BoE was Nationalised in 1946 by the UK’s Socialist Government. Gordon Brown the Socialist Chancellor looking for his ‘not-me-gov’ moment just created another pseudo entity, another Quango. As Chancellor, as with all the Chancellors that followed him, he promised to take from the Taxpayer to cover all the BoE’s losses. In effect the Chancellor as their paymaster as with anyone else that pays the ‘bill’ they get to call the shots, manage the results. If you don’t like the result you don’t pay the bill. There was no get out in that arrangement, no independence just smoke and mirrors deflection.
September 1, 2026
The hidden cost of AI tokens means that they must necessarily lead to a loss of physical jobs to cover the cost.
Co-pilot, which at present comes with the 365 licence (but only works within the 365 suite) will eventually have to charge which will come as a huge shock to users.
ChatGPT will soon also have to curtail free use in order to deliver a return.
Monetisation is the enemy of AI in the future.
September 1, 2026
O/T: For those interested Microsoft is proposing a Data Centre to be built in the Thames Valley Park in Earley (tvpdc.co.uk). It had an ‘open day’ presenting it on 7th of July. It should be a 72MW IT data centre in TVP, Reading RG6 1WG. There should be a public consultation in the autumn.
In the meantime bbc.co.uk 01/09/2026 ‘Thousands signed petition against data centre’.
Reply You should point out Thames Valley Park is a business park where Microsoft already have large offices.
September 1, 2026
Are you for or against this proposed development hefner?
September 2, 2026
How what I think, assuming I think anything about it, is so interesting to you?
It was a local piece of news that might be relevant to the Reading-Wokingham people.
September 2, 2026
Well you posted it hefner yet you gave us no conclusion to your post.
It must have been of interest or even concern to you.
Your opinions are of great value to all of us on here.
Please don’t leave us hanging.
September 1, 2026
Anything but the real job. Then ensuring that he can be parroting others that don’t make sense either.
In the real World its called deflection, steering people away from any focus on failure, the failures that are costing the Taxpayer billions. The BoE should have never been nationalised by the UK’s Socialist Government in pursuit of ‘ego’, it needs to be let loose become really independent and stop being a noose around the taxpayers neck.
But the again, it sits well with the type of Socialist UK Parliament that has lost its way this Century. The type of management and politics hell-bent on destroying the very fabric of the Country and it People from the inside. Some call it the Blair Legacy, but it is a parasite that needs cleansing so as we can find our way back to simply being a proper democracy.
Let the People have their Country back!
September 1, 2026
You have to wonder how qualified the Governor of the Bank of England is, given we’ve recently had a Chancellor with very limited qualifications. Is he another one of those people promoted for his political views rather than his ability to get things right?
The world seems to be too full of political appointees who don’t have the marbles they were born with, and don’t do a good job.
You’d think the Governor of the Bank of England would lean to the right politically and have a good grounding in the likes of Adam Smith. Maybe it is those that selecting people to sit at the top of the tree that are failing us – they certainly need better judgement.
September 1, 2026
It should be a red card, not a yellow. Andrew Baillie has been a disaster as Governor and continues to be so. Why he has not already been sacked, I don’t know. But it does not give you any faith in our Chancellors over the last few years. Another example of a person promoted above their ability, and the wonderful man who gave us 39.9% interest rates on credit cards and overdrafts!
September 1, 2026
The Governor is correct in telling it as he sees it with the yields in Bonds worldwide creeping up he wouldn’t want to be taking a lead from what is commng out of America right now.
September 1, 2026
The success or failure of AI is with its ability to get going. Its been killed off by the UK Government with their self imposed high cost energy policy. Which is a shame because what we call AI was all primarily centred in the UK, thanks to 3 Guys that have now become the main driving force behind likes of Google & Microsoft all London based but now being ejected by the UK Parliament. The UK Government has maliciously killed AI developing in the Country for the benefit of the Country. not from logic, or practicalities just political spite. Not content with deindustrialising the natation the UK Parliament wants to ensure they have pressed the self destruct button to destroy its people
As for the BoE and them spouting nonsense, the bulk of market trading and no longer in now in a minnow City like London (thanks to the likes of the BoE and the UK Parliament), it is done via automated tracking world wide. The markets need to go up and down to make money, and the money is made in which ever direction it goes. AI is used by the trackers to create the logarithms to ensure profit. – the UK denies AI
The UK Parliament where ego is more important than intelligence,logic and the need to earn to pay for promisses has shot London, the UK and its People in the foot as it has ensured the bulk of the Worlds AI activity will have to find a home elsewhere. Never has such a grim future been imposed ‘on-so-many-by-so-few’
September 1, 2026
Quoting, but out of context but equally at home here, with the BoE, UK energy taxes, etc as elsewhere – Tony Abbott nailed carbon taxes when he remarked that they were “a so-called market in the non-delivery of an invisible substance to no one.”
Which EVERYONE pays for !
September 1, 2026
From Guido…
Borrowing Costs at Highest Level Since 2008 as Parliament Returns
The summer holiday season has ended and Burnham is faced with rising gilt yields on his first day in Parliament. Fun’s over…
The 10-year gilt yield has risen to its highest level since June 2008 at 5.223%.
The OBR’s assumed 10-year yields in March were around 4.5%
Tell Me; what is the BoE Governors job? For that matter what is Burnham’s job? Who owns the cost rises?
Is Gordon Brown back in charge?
Reply The one day spiked peak rate under Truss was 4.38%! Yet the government go on complaining about that rate.
September 1, 2026
As if it was the only reason why the Parliamentary Conservative Party dumped her !
September 1, 2026
@Reply – didn’t the spike attributed to Truss originate the day before she made any announcements. Seemingly others wanted to send a message on who was in charge!
September 1, 2026
The current Bank of England Governor reminds me of that immortal line in Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’ (echoed in the film): “Look mummy, it’s the fire brigade – there’s going to be a fire!”
September 1, 2026
I don’t trust this BofE Governor. His judgement is flawed and his recent alarmist comments serve only to unsteady an already volatile market. The combination of this Bank Governor and an economically inexperienced Prime Minister probably seeking to increase welfare and spend recklessly on left leaning vanity projects is really troubling.
September 1, 2026
O/T
I see Mr Starmer is now resigning as an MP in order to tread the World stage (his true love) a bit like Tony Blair. But who is employing him, and who exactly will he represent, surely we have enough Civil Servants, Ambassadors, Trade Ministers, as well as a Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister to represent our interests abroad.
Perhaps he will join the lucrative speakers circuit, and give everyone the benefit of his own personal views ?
September 1, 2026
Keith:in my early days in London starting out on the great employment adventure I met several BoE employees.
Without question The Bank was held in awe here and around the world.Sir Montague Norman comes to mind
as setting the standard for economic soundness.”Safe as”.Unquestionably for the last 15 years The Bank has
operated as a Government lickspittle