Mr Bean works at Bank of England

If there ever was an unfortunate coincidence of of a name and a job it must be Mr Bean a deputy Governor at the Bank of England. With the pound falling to near record lows against world currencies both Mr Charlie Bean and the other Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir John Gieve have been commenting on the state of regulation of the financial markets and the Banks in particular.

It appears that the Bank of England and the FSA were possibly not entirely asleep at the wheel as the current financial tsunami broke over the world and the UK.

According to Sir John Gieve in an interview with Robert Peston the Bank had been aware of concerns about rising debt levels but failed to act on this because of concerns that action would be criticsed as countering wealth creation. So they were not entirerly asleep at the wheel then. Merely dozing.

Now, rather late in the day, he and his fellow deputy governor are calling for additional instruments to control the banks and lending. Unfortunately they appear to be making these calls long after the horse has bolted.

The problem we face at the moment clearly is not putting the brakes on excessive lending. It is keeping a reasonable flow of lending running at the same time as allowing overall debt levels to fall. Sure there is a need for the future to have controls over excessive and risky borrowing but one can't help having the feeling that, like First World War generals, those in charge at the Bank of England are continually fighting the last war rather than developing tools to win the present one.