Carney growing tired of the blame game

Mark Carney isn’t willing to take the blame for the state of the global economy any longer.

After months of criticism levelled at him and his central banking colleagues across the world for low interest rates and the sluggish pace of growth, the Bank of England governor told U.K. lawmakers in London that it’s time for them to face up to their role.

“The focus on monetary policy is a massive deflection exercise,” he said at a Parliament hearing Tuesday. “It’s very important to distinguish the stance of monetary policy and the reasons why global interest rates are low,” he said, adding that “inequality is caused by much more fundamental factors.”

BOE policy-makers have come under particular scrutiny after cutting interest rates to a record low and expanding asset purchases in the wake of Britain’s June vote to leave the European Union. With the U.K. performing better than the central bank predicted earlier in the year, some politicians accused Carney and his colleagues of straying into politics and talking down the economy.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s comments last month that loose policy has “bad side effects” added fuel to the debate, sparking further criticism from members of her Conservative Party and sparking a debate about the BOE’s independence.

It’s not only Carney in the firing line. In the U.S., president-elect Donald Trump has accused Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen of being “highly political” and keeping interest rates low to benefit Democratic President Barack Obama. The European Central Bank has also faced condemnation for hurting savers, weakening banks and feeding the ascent of political populism.

While an improving economy in the U.S. has allowed central bankers to shift their attention to longer-term issues, the “intense” focus on monetary policy is a legacy of the financial crisis, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president James Bullard.

“Unemployment is near the natural rates and inflation is near target, so from a stabilization perspective