Who is the Bank of England kidding? Interest rates are going nowhere

Government ministers are happy to perpetuate monetary policy committee mythology over interest rates as it takes the heat off them

Like John Major's early 1990s government, the Bank of England gives "the impression of being in office, but not in power". Former chancellor Norman Lamont's analysis could just as easily be applied to Threadneedle Street today.

Six years on from the financial crisis, governor Mark Carney and his colleagues are keen to give the impression that they can control events. Sadly, their big bazooka, the threat of an interest rate rise, is as powerful as a pop-gun.