Finance sector news
Government advisor Balls contrite
6/3/2009The cutting of the base rate to a new low of 0.5% and the launch of quantitative easing – the creation of £75 billion new money – were swiftly followed by a concession by one of Gordon Brown's closest allies of Labour's part in the current financial crisis.
Schools secretary Ed Balls was economic secretary to the Treasury and Gordon Brown's chief adviser when the chancellor established a new financial regulatory framework and made the Bank of England independent.
Talking to Sky News, Ed Balls conceded: "We wanted a risk-based regulation where we were tough where the risks were high. In retrospect we all underestimated the risks and we were nowhere near tough enough. Completely right. We need to learn from that and do it better in the future."
It's still widely thought that the Prime Minister won't be making any apologies on the grounds that the recession originated from the US sub-prime crisis.
George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, sees the arrival of quantitative easing as extremely significant. "Our economy is broken, and Gordon Brown's sticking plasters won't mend it."
