Amidst high expectations for shaking up an old institution, Canadian Mark Carney took over as governor of the Bank of England. Mondayâs headlines in the British press gave him praise for taking the London Underground to the office.
He arrived early for work â at 7 a.m. -- in his new role as Englandâs top banker.
Carney, 48, spent the last five years as the Bank of Canada Governor. In that role he was credited with steady handling of Canadaâs economy during a financial crisis that took its toll on other G8 and G20 nations.
Michael Hewson, Senior Market Analyst at CMC Markets in London, says Carney has gained a lot of âbrownie pointsâ for his handling of the financial crisis, given that Canada was the only G7 country that did not have to receive a banking bailout during the financial crisis that started in 2008.
One of Carneyâs challenges will be to reform the Bank of England and improve communications.
âHeâs got an awful lot of hype to live up to,â Hewson said, âand I think because of where he is that he might not be able to live up to that hype.
The British economy, still struggling, grew just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter this year compared to the previous quarter.
Carney is the first non-British person to take the post of governor in the Bank of Englandâs 319-year history, and will receive a $1.4 million salary, making him one of Englandâs highest paid public servants.
This week Carney will meet with the Monetary Policy Committee, a nine-member group, to discuss whether to expand Englandâs stimulus plan. To date the plan has pumped 375 billion pounds ($579 billion) into Englandâs economy since 2009.
Reaction in the British press
The Independent newspaper quoted one pundit who called Carney the âDon Draper of banking,â playing off the popular television show Mad Men, but added Carney âwill need more than the fictional advertising guru's charisma to help get the UK economy back on its feet.â
Both the Guardian and the Telegraph quoted Justin Urquhart Stewart, the managing director of Seven Investment Management, who ran into Carney on public transit Monday morning.
âMark Carney was absolutely charming, and had none of the typical pomposity of Brits,â Urquhart Stewart told The Daily Telegraph.
"I've established he definitely wasn't George Clooney," Urquhart Stewart told the Guardian. "I wished him good luck."
âIt is nice to see someone being suitably parsimonious,â Urquhart Stewart added.
The Daily Mirror wrote that in 1982, Carneyâs high school trivia team lost a competition after it failed to correctly answer who was Snoopyâs bird friend (Woodstock).
âMr. Carney will be sincerely hoping such mistakes are a thing of the past,â Graham Hiscott, the Daily Mirrorâs business editor wrote.
The Mirror also quoted a leading businessman who said Carney has fierce ambition with the ability to back it up.
âHe wants to be up there with the elite, make no mistake about it,â an anonymous businessman told the Mirror.
British press coverage of Carneyâs first day:
- The Guardian:
- The Telegraph:
- The Independent:
- Mirror: