The letter George Osborne should really send Mervyn King

Every quarter, Mervyn King writes to George Osborne to say why he missed his inflation target. The Chancellor always accepts his excuses. But next time, he should write a proper reply, says Matthew Lynn. Here's what it should say.

British economic life has acquired a new ritual. Every three months the Governor of the Bank of England writes a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining why he has missed the inflation target.

On the same day, the Chancellor responds and accepts the Governor's excuses without a word of criticism. In any normal business, if you gave up on hitting the target your employer set for you, you'd expect a roasting. Next time around, George Osborne should rip up the rule-book and write Mervyn King a proper letter. Here's what it should say.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.