RECOGNISING that fragile economies need strong leaders, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, aims for an air of unruffled competence. Recently, however, his mixed messages on the economy have bamboozled firms and financial markets. In February the bank suggested that interest rates would not rise until the second quarter of 2015. Just four months later the plan changed: in June Mr Carney hinted that rates could rise “sooner than markets currently expect.” Pat McFadden, a Labour MP, likened the bank’s behaviour to that of an unreliable boyfriend. That judgment proved unfair: Mr Carney is sticking to his original plan. The bank’s latest forecast, released on August 13th, revealed that ultra-low rates are likely to endure until 2015, as he previously promised.
