A Veiled Threat to BoE Independence?

In Theresa May's maiden speech at the Conservative party conference as Prime Minister we picked up on a line that certainly makes us shudder.

"While monetary policy – with super-low interest rates and quantitative easing – provided the necessary emergency medicine after the financial crash, we have to acknowledge there have been some bad side effects.

"People with assets have got richer. People without them have suffered. People with mortgages have found their debts cheaper. People with savings have found themselves poorer.

"A change has got to come. And we are going to deliver it. Because that’s what a Conservative Government can do."

Either that is simply loose talk or the government is declaring war on the Bank of England which is extraordinary. Central bank independence is sacrosanct even if in practice there is always political pressure. It is for good reason that monetary policy was taken out of the hands of elected officials.