Central bankers, more than setting targets and aiming, should make sure their objectives can be reached.

Sir Samuel Brittan wishes for the Bank of England to state their objective rate for nominal gross domestic product under which they will keep interest rates low, “The real target that Carney should be aiming for” July12.

That is all fine, if low interest rates were all it took to achieve that objective, but is it not! 

As is, with banks instructed by regulators to extract profits from the past, by lending to “The Infallible” against very little capital; and not lending to the future, “The Risky”, by means of requiring banks to then hold much more capital, the real economy will not be able to achieve non-inflationary growth, unless, miraculously, bureaucrats get all other incentives absolutely right.

Getting rid of these immoral and stupid risk-adverse regulations that is what Carney and his colleagues should be doing, but, admitting they were so wrong, might be requiring too much humility of these besserwisser bureaucrats.