"Better late than never" would be a charitable response to the decision by the court of the Bank of England to conduct a formal review of the central's bank's performance.
And, if you're doubly charitable, you might say the court is doing a comprehensive job by commissioning not one but three reviews – one covering the Bank's response as a lender of last resort to the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS in 2008-09; one covering the Bank's framework for providing liquidity to the banking system; and one covering the delicate issue of the monetary policy committee's forecasting capability, which has repeatedly failed to predict inflation accurately. But will everybody be happy in October, when the three wise outsiders have reported? Unlikely.
The problem is the absence of a fourth review – of the court itself. The Treasury select committee has been arguing for ages that the governing body needs a radical overhaul to bring it into the 21st century and improve accountability at the Bank.
This was a moment for members of the court to invite scrutiny of their own role and performance – they ducked it.
