Will no one rid me of this turbulent central banker? Gordon Brown, the UK's prime minister, may be asking just that when he learns of yet another critical comment from the governor of the Bank of England. For Henry II, king of England in the 12th century, the troublemaker was Thomas Becket, his own choice as archbishop of Canterbury. For Mr Brown, it is Mervyn King, whom he has reappointed to an equally impregnable position. The parallel is clear: central bankers are cardinals in the cult of monetary stability.
难道没人能给我撵走这个吵吵嚷嚷的央行行长吗？在闻听英国央行(Bank of England)行长又一次发表批评言论时，英国首相戈登•布朗(Gordon Brown)可能会这样问。对于12世纪英格兰国王亨利二世(Henry II)而言，找麻烦的是他钦点的坎特伯雷大主教托马斯•贝克特(Thomas Becket)。给布朗添乱的则是默文•金(Mervyn King)，他受布朗二度任命，地位与贝克特一样稳固。两者的相似之处显而易见：在人们对货币体系稳定性的顶礼膜拜中，央行行长就是红衣主教。