What have low interest rates done for Britain? Depressingly little

Bank of England stimulus since late 2008 has done more to boost house prices than productive investment

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of Black Wednesday, a momentous day in history. 16 September 1992 will be forever remembered as the day Britain was blown out of Europe's exchange rate mechanism by foreign currency speculators led by George Soros.

John Major's government sought to fend off the attacks by using Britain's reserves to buy pounds and by raising interest rates. The day started with official borrowing costs at 10% but during the morning of Black Wednesday they were raised to 12% and later it was announced that they would be further increased, to 15%, the next day.