Mark Carney’s real talent: getting out while the going was good

Britain needs a Bank of England governor who can get the economy going without recourse to artificial stimulus. And judging by his track record, says Matthew Lynn - that man is not Mark Carney.

Which major economy has been racking up the most debt, and at record levels? Cyprus perhaps, with its collapsed offshore banking system stuffed with Russian money? France, with its large state and taxes? The US, teetering on a fiscal cliff that continually threatens to shut down the government? Or Britain, with a deficit that refuses to come under control and a culture of rampant borrowing that has made pay-day lenders about the only growth industry left in the country? Actually, if you look at consumer debt, the answer is Canada.

Hold on a second! Isn't Canada meant to be a safe, if slightly dull, place the one that steered its economy so successfully through the financial crisis that we've poached its central banker to see if he can perform the same miracle here? I'm afraid so.

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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.