Bank of England

The Bank of England is one of the first central banks ever formed, established in 1694 to raise money for the wars of the Crown. It is currently owned by the government, but sets monetary policy independently. The Bank issues currency for England, Wales and Scotland among other regions and is located in London's private financial district, the city within a city known as the City of London. It goes by the affectionate nickname of The Old Lady and its current Governor is Mervyn King, who has been in office since 2003 when he replaced Sir Edward George.

The Bank of England is concerned mainly with price stability and the promotion of economic growth, two areas in line with the responsibilities of the Federal Reserve across the "pond." The bank tries to maintain price stability by adjusting the value and volume of money available to the larger economy.

The Bank of England and its governors seem less partial to using inflation (growth in the monetary base) as a mechanism to generate economic growth. The central bank of Europe has a similar reputation as a "hawk," though the European financial crisis has severely undercut the ECM's hawkish tendencies.

Financial stability is to be dealt with by providing the services of the central bank as the lender of last resort in cases of extreme financial stress. In the case of the 2008 financial meltdown, documents are beginning to show that larger central banks coordinate lender-of-last-resort policies and that it turns out the Federal Reserve is actually the guarantor of the larger system – probably because the system is ultimately a dollar-reserve system and thus dollars are needed to liquefy frozen credit more than pounds or even euros.

While the Bank of England may not have the clout of the Federal Reserve, it is one of the most ancient financial institutions. It has come under slightly less fire in the 21st century than the Federal Reserve, which is widely seen as reckless for the tens of trillions it has dumped into the market in an attempt to alleviate the financial crisis.

The ECB is another central bank that has come under considerable criticism in 2011 due to its extreme attempts at propping up the EU's injured southern flank – Spain, Portugal, Greece and (not-so-southern) Ireland. One supposes over time – as British discontent with austerity grows – that the Bank of England will attract considerably more vitriol as well.

In the truth-enabling era of the Internet, the actual money mechanism of the West – printing fiat money from nothing – is increasingly well known. That top central bankers have at their disposal at the touch of a button literally trillions of dollars is an epiphany that too many have realized and questioning about central banking is widespread throughout the West.

Perhaps the monetary elite shall try to implement a gold standard or simply attempt to replace the dollar-reserve currency with a global currency run by the IMF. It is certainly possible that even one of the world's most ancient, high-profile central banks, the Bank of England, shall see great changes or even go out of business as the powers-that-be attempt to transition to a more palatable currency that is less revealing of the totality of money power. The Bank of England has not seen its last days, and yet its days – in its current incarnation anyway – may be numbered.

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