Interview with Mervyn King: All Things Monetary Policy

Christopher Jeffrey interviews “Mervyn King on his career and big ‘mistakes.’” The subtitle reads: “The former BoE governor speaks with Christopher Jeffery about the value of transparency, lessons from the GFC [global financial crisis], the need to track broad money and tie short-term funding to haircut collateral, and danger presented by non-banks” (Central Banking, June 30, 2026, free registration required). The interview is delightful and insightful throughout, but here are a couple of points that caught my eye in particular: On central bank transparency: The great tradition in central banks was the opposite of transparency. At the Bank of England [BoE], there was a famous session in the 1930s, when the then deputy governor, when asked if the bank had considered publishing a report on any of its activities by a parliamentary committee, said: “Well, I have considered it, but I can’t say that I have considered it for long enough to have reached a conclusion.” When asked “Well don’t…