A decade on, the decision to make the Bank of England independent can be regarded a resounding success. Good growth, stable prices and low cyclical volatility are the dreams of macroeconomic policymakers and, over the last ten years, those dreams have, in the UK, become a reality.

Some have argued that economic success has been more a matter of luck than of good judgment. I disagree. Since the Bank was granted independence, there have been all manner of potentially-destabilising external shocks