George Osborne has welcomed American economist Kristin Forbes as a new member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the second woman appointed under his chancellorship. Osborne said Dr Forbes, previously an economic adviser to US president George W Bush, would bring “huge ability & international experience to the UK”. Forbes appointment to committee, which sets interest rates, comes after the chancellor had to fight accusations of a “Tory woman problem as all his appointments to the nine man group had, until recently, been men. The Treasury has ultimate responsibility for approving the appointments of all the members.In March, Osborne appointed his first woman to the committee, Dr Nemat Shafik, who has been serving as deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.Forbes was appointed to replace Dr Ben Broadbent, who has been promoted to be deputy governor of monetary policy, taking over from Charlie Bean next month. Dr Broadbent also said today that he did not see a housing bubble starting in Britain.Forbes is currently Professor of Management and Global Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She served as one of the three members of the White Houses council of economic advisers between 2003 and 2005, with main responsibility for international macroeconomic issues.
In a statement about Forbes appointment, Osborne added: “Dr Kristin Forbes is an economist of outstanding ability with real practical experience of policy making. She will make an exceptionally strong addition to the MPC. Its a sign of the high regard in which the Bank of England and our monetary framework are held around the world that someone of Kristins ability wishes to be part of them”.Bank of England governor Mark Carney was revealed by HuffPostUK last year to have piled pressure on Osborne to consider appointing female economists to the Banks MPC.
Nobel Economics Laureate Robert Shiller thinks so, and he predicted the 2007 house price crash. And even world snooker champions Ronnie O’Sullivan says a huge housing bubble (and crash) will happen. Or in his words: “Baby its coming.”
Central London house prices are rising 729 per day. The average price for a three-bedroom house in central London has increased by 729 a day over the last year, equivalent to a quarter of a million pounds, estate agency Marsh & Parsons said.The estate agent firm said the scale of house price inflation meant that prices rose by 19% since April 2013 to an average of 1.6 million, equivalent to 5,120 a week, or eight times Londoners 658-a-week median salary.
Single people cant seem to afford to own a property. Less than one in ten properties in many parts of the UK are affordable to single house-buyers, according to the homeless charity Shelter. Meanwhile, three central London areas are completely unaffordable for couples with children or single people living on average wages: Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden this garage was sold for 251,000. Its JUST a garage. And this tiny Chelsea lawn went for over 80 grand. This tiny lawn in Chelsea sold this month for 84,000, and it doesn’t have planning permission or right of way.This garden looks a bargain by comparison. It sold for 53,000 last September and you cant do anything on it at all You’ll only need save for 30 years to buy a home. So says independent research commissioned by Shelter . That boy has already started on his first house. You might as well move here. Its cheaper to commute from Spain than to live in London. Other Bank of England chiefs are worried Sir Jon Cunliffe, the Banks deputy governor for financial stability, has warned that it would be “dangerous to ignore the momentum that has built up in the UK housing market.” He also said that the housing market was the “brightest light” blinking on the dashboard of financial hazards that the Bank monitors. Broadbent himself admits he may be wrong. While arguing that Britain is not showing signs of a housing bubble, Broadbent admitted that it may be easier to spot with hindsight.”Bubbles are things that are things that are far easier to identify after the event than at the time,” Broadbent told Radio 4s Today programme.
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