George Clooney Arrives at the Bank of England

The man who has been called the 'George Clooney' of banking has taken up his new post. Mark Carney arrived early at the Bank of England where he starts his position as governor, succeeding Sir Mervyn King. The Canadian arrives amid speculation he will take a more activist stance towards monetary policy, although not so early in the job. Carney is hailed as the "outstanding central banker of his generation" and arrives from the Bank of Canada, where he is credited with helping the economy recover. – YouTube

Dominant Social Theme: The world is in good hands now.

Free-Market Analysis: We wrote just yesterday about Mark Carney, the central banker from Canada who has arrived on the scene in Britain to take over the reins of England's central bank.

The adulatory press coverage has been just what we expected, and even more so. We've already been treated to reports of how Carney took the "tube" to work and in this video we learn that he arrived a full hour early to work.

In watching the video, we are reminded once more that central banking is as much a public spectacle as an exercise of monetary power. Carney has obviously been picked because he is a man who seems relaxed even under the glare of publicity and comes across as confident but levelheaded.

Interestingly, this video refers to him as the most "powerful" central banker "in the world" (we thought that was Ben Bernanke) and presents him as sitting down in a large room with many others who are apparently about to report to him regarding Britain's financial affairs.

We are thus meant to perceive that the office is occupied by a man at once genial but efficient and that the management of England's economy – and even the world's – continues as before, a province of those who are appointed to run it.

Of course, that is just the problem. No single group of men should be meeting in a chamber somewhere to discuss the state of monetary policy – and then to fix the price and volume of money. It's been an obviously destructive exercise in the past years and decades and its difficulties will not be lessened under Carney.

Carney may be more charming than most but the essential ruin caused by the system won't change and under Carney may even increase.

Conclusion: Is a charming and efficient central banker the worst of all worlds?

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