It is a brave luncheon speaker who chooses Finnish monetary policy between the first and second world wars as his subject. But Mervyn King, Bank of England governor, just pulled it off at a conference in Helsinki, marking the 200th anniversary of the country’s central bank. (Read the speech here.)

King may have selected his off-beat subject to avoid generating unwanted headlines – there was a strong media presence following the European Central Bank’s meeting here on Thursday. But it was also a subject close to his heart – and is more compelling than you might thing. Read more