Redwood: Prudence or growth? That is the question

Last week, the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England produced its first Report.

This is the new Bank committee responsible for bank regulation, and for ensuring the economic system is strong, solvent and working well. As you might expect from such an august body, its report was full of charts, details and analysis. It reeked professionalism and authority. Yet at the heart of its analysis and its recommendations there is a cruel dilemma. Is the priority to require ever more cash and capital from the banks, to buttress their balance sheets and guarantee no more failures? Or is the priority now to see some more lending in the UK economy, so we can resume a faster ra...