For various reasons I'm currently not filled with the enthusiasm to write anything here. Nevertheless, something has finally warmed my blood up enough for me to put a little effort in. And that's the Bank of England, and the whining banking industry.

The best thing Labour ever did was giving the Bank of England independence. This should, in theory, allow the BoE to manage the economy, rather than pandering to the vote grabbing tendencies of our political establishment. Nevertheless, as soon as there's a crisis the government starts turning the screws for the BoE to start bailing people out. And this time they've folded.

For those in areas with less tea consumption per capita, a large lender, Northern Rock, recently got itself in the shite. This was it's own fault, and that of the banking industry - they made silly loans to try and make more money, and now no one knows who is credit worthy and so they won't lend to each other. Indeed, the interbank rate is now above the BoE's punitive lending rate, which is not a normal thing, and not particularly good for the markets.

The ECB folded very quickly, pumping money into the market to bring this down. The Federal Reserve dropped rates significantly recently to try and do the same. The BoE, despite political pressure, kept on course with the very sensible objection that if the banks, especially Northern Rock, were bailed then this would serve as encouragement for a repeat. After all, if you take risks you deserve the gains - and the losses, should it go wrong. And at least one of the upper management earned over £1.4 million last year - so there's little call for them to complain that they missed the gains.

However, after Northern Rock applied for (and received) emergency funding, consumers panicked and started withdrawing money. The banking industry blamed the BoE for the 'humiliation of their industry' and politicians accused the BoE of mismanagement. How hypocritical can you get?

So now the BoE is taking the heat, and inprudent consumers and bankers are getting a reprieve at the taxpayer's expense. In a free market economy risk is often rewarded with gain - but without the chance of failure the market will collapse, and the taxpayer will be the one who loses. In a time of widening income inequality, and with financial sector bonuses at obscene levels, how can it possibly be the taxpayer's responsibility to bail out those who (with full knowledge) placed high bets? So much for liberal economics.