Among phrases you don’t hear any much any more are:
- Safe as houses
- As sound as a pound
- As safe as the Bank of England.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that all three are out of fashion, after the US housing bubble that brought down the world economy, the collapse of sterling and the Bank of England’s failure to control inflation over either the past 50 years or the more recent past, when it was aiming for 2 per cent (the blue line on the chart).
Yesterday’s UK Budget avoided the extra inflationary pressure that would have come from fiddling with the target, which should give some support for the pound. But don’t get too positive: outgoing governor Sir Mervyn King voted for a second time for more monetary easing, and while he was outvoted again, Mark Carney is widely expected to be both more dovish and more convincing. I discuss this in today’s Short View column and video, and in greater detail below:
James Mackintosh is the Financial Times' Investment Editor, writing and presenting the daily Short View column and video. In 16 years at the FT his posts have included comment editor, motor industry editor and hedge funds correspondent, as well as spells in the Parliamentary lobby and Paris. He was the first reporter hired for FT.com, joining two weeks before it launched.
John Authers is the Financial Times' Senior Investment Columnist, writing the Saturday Long View and a regular Monday column. In a 22-year career at the FT, his previous posts have included global head of the Lex column, investment editor, US markets editor, Mexico City bureau chief and US banking correspondent. His latest book is The Fearful Rise of Markets. 