Supporters of former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor say he has experience to lead in period of instability

The former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, a climate-focused economist who became the first non-Briton to run the Bank, is considering entering the race to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister.

Trudeau announced on Monday he would step down after nearly 10 years in power once his ruling Liberal party chose a new leader, throwing open the doors to a fierce party race before a general election later this year.

Carney, 59, in a statement quoted by Bloomberg, where he is a chair of the board of directors, said he would be “considering this decision closely with my family over the coming days”. A longtime and prominent member of the Liberal party, Carney said he was “encouraged” by the support of Liberal lawmakers and people “who want us to move forward with positive change and a winning economic plan”.

  • wise_pancake
    8·
    2 days ago

    On the other hand, I think that’s the type of person who when working for the people could put forward policy to actually affect the situation.

    Frankly the current liberals repeatedly stoked housing demand and didn’t significantly shift to increasing supply. I would hope an economist would focus on the right incentives for the market to drive demand.

    • Avid Amoeba
      4·
      2 days ago

      This highlights a problem I foresee with a Carney PM - relying on market forces to fix housing. The market has no incentive in solving the supply shortage without massive intervention. Perhaps that’s what you’re envisioning when you say the right incentives. In the past this problem has been successfully tackled centrally. E.g. council houses in the UK.

      • wise_pancake
        5·
        2 days ago

        I think there’s only two ways out: do something massive and the government directly builds and forces hands, or the government steps in and gets developers to actually build by e.g. giving our preferred interest free loans and building bonds.

        Ideally we get both so that if the market don’t play ball the gov can undercut them with no profit motive.

    • Victor Villas
      32·
      2 days ago

      I would hope an economist would focus on the right incentives for the market to drive demand.

      Herein lies an issue: the fact that he’s an economist doesn’t mean that he’s in for the economics of the greater good. And the fact that he himself has a few strong beliefs on what the economic solutions should be, doesn’t mean he’ll actually make them happen.