Bank of England rudderless with interest rate dilemma looming large
Smack-bang in the middle of the City sits the Bank of England. The Old Lady of Thread needle Street, as the place is affectionately known, is a reassuring presence, its thick walls and imposing grandeur oozing power and control. The vast Bank building is an unashamed throwback, a reminder of how things were. Of the once great City institutions, only Lloyd’s of London is still in situ. Its corner, though, is all steel and glass, and for how long it remains even there is up for consideration. The rest, the various exchanges and the main regulators, the traditional pillars, have all downsized or relocated out of the Square Mile. The privilege of working in the huge, famous edifice is not all that it was, measured at least by the fact the daily roll call would not even get up to half full. At a time of great and growing crisis, not to mention market turmoil, the Bank of England, the central bank, responsible for ensuring the UK has financial and monetary stability, is largely in work from ...