A position on the Chancellor’s Economic Council is akin to being appointed to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee but without the responsibility.

The role of the Council is to “second guess” the MPC and make theoretical judgements on monetary policy, but without the responsibility that those decisions have in the “real world"".”

At its latest meeting, the Council, which is made up of seven members including former Bank of England Committee and Karen Ward, Chief Economic Strategist at Investment Bank J.P. Morgan, counselled against further rate hikes for fear that they will push the economy into recession.

Ward was also quoted recently as saying she believes that the MPC may be using a mild recession as a deliberate strategy to bring down inflation. However, that was coupled with another comment that no blame can be attached to the Bank for “simply doing its job.”

Those two comments illustrate the futility of appointing a shadow MPC which can make pronouncements, often with the benefit of hindsight, without the responsibility of how they affect the lives of real people.

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