Technocrats are a tempting target for politicians with a populist streak. And few unelected specialists have the high public profile afforded central bankers. Little surprise then that monetary guardians have been getting it in the neck even more of late, as lawmakers look to deflect the blame for the hit to voters’ finances delivered by decades-high inflation.
Liz Truss, the front-runner to be the next U.K. prime minister, is raising the prospect of changing the Bank of England’s mandate to ensure it controls inflation –- implying the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street has failed to salve Britain’s cost of living crisis. “The best way of dealing with inflation is monetary policy and what I have said is I want to change the Bank of England’s mandate to make sure in the future it matches some of the most effective central banks in the world at controlling inflation,” she said. Analysts question the BoE’s guilt. “On our forecasts, higher food and energy bills will directly account for 60% of the anticipated peak [U.K.] inflation figure in October print. Non-core inflation is not something monetary policy can impact,” Bruna Skarica, U.K. economist at Morgan Stanley, wrote in the FT this week. This matt …