The former head of the Bank of England says 鈥榓t present there are so many areas of uncertainty鈥�
Fmr head of the Bank of England says 鈥榓t present there are so many areas of uncertainty鈥�
Lord King, who was Governor of the Bank of England from 2003 鈥� 2013, has told the 91热爆 that the current wars in Ukraine and Gaza have made formulating economic policy 鈥榲ery difficult鈥�.
Speaking to 91热爆 HARDtalk, Lord King said the situation was more complicated than during the 2008 crash when he was in charge at the Bank of England.
鈥楾he financial crisis was a crisis of the western banking system 鈥� so we knew where the problems were,鈥� he said. 鈥極nce we had decided to recapitalise the banking system and persuaded governments to do it, then the banking crisis ended.鈥�
鈥楾his is much more uncertain and dangerous,鈥� he said. 鈥楾he only time I can think, in my lifetime, where there has been so much fear was the Cuban Missile Crisis.鈥�
Lord King said current events made predicting the direction of the economy very difficult. 鈥榃e can鈥檛 forecast the future. So when people say 鈥淕DP forecast for next year is 2.2%鈥�, it鈥檚 a meaningless number. There is too much uncertainty.鈥�
This, he said, meant governments around the world were struggling in their responses to pressing economic problems. 鈥楾he role of economics is to help you think through the problem and identify the big risks we face so that governments can put in place mitigating solutions to them. We can鈥檛 change the uncertainty that is there, but we can try and cope with it better.鈥�
鈥楾he trouble at present is that there are so many areas of uncertainty, it鈥檚 very difficult to think of a simple strategy that will enable governments to cope,鈥� he said.
