The future of the BoE 15 years on from independence day

Fifteen years ago to the week, in May 1997, the thumping strains of D:Ream's Things Can Only Get Better heralded the arrival of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and New Labour.

The music was still ringing in the new Chancellor’s ears as he gave the Bank of England its independence. History does not relate whether there was any ‘old-fashioned disco dancing’, in Sir Mervyn King’s inimitable phrase, in Threadneedle Street that week, but the Bank seized its opportunity to direct monetary policy without fear or favour with both hands. In May 2012, you could say, there is no need to change the record. But how has the Bank of England fared? The briefest potted history since 1997 shows five years of blameless, benevolent rule under Eddie George until Mervyn King’...