The only thing worse than an "unreliable boyfriend" is the one who relentlessly aims to please but fails to understand what his partner really needs. Despite his best intentions, he disrupts the relationship through an improper assessment of the situation at hand. Meet the "out-of-touch boyfriend".
The latter label arguably became a more apt characterization of Bank of England Governor Mark Carney on Super Thursday. In the process of trying to shake off the "unreliable" reputation he earned during a parliamentary hearing last year, Carney is leaving the door open to easy monetary policy for longer in the event global headwinds take a turn for the worse.
The governor struck a surprisingly dovish tone last Thursday as the bank pushed out its inflation forecast while trimming the UK growth outlook. But Carney's assertion that risks from developing economies could overshadow domestic resilience caught many off-guard, especially after the U.S. Federal Reserve pared back its focus on external threats. The statement also comes amid a rebound in UK manufacturing activity to a 16- month high, suggesting robust domestic demand is offsetting a slowdown in China.