Mervyn King’s New Job

One of the most famous and incisive critics of the banking industry has now taken a job as an adviser to a bank. The outcry that has followed is not only unjustified but also bewildering. Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, has stirred controversy with his new job at Citigroup. Critics say such moves create a conflict of interest, and that, as the Financial Times put it, “public disquiet … is justified.” But any suggestion that King is being rewarded for his complaisance while running the Bank of England is absurd. If anything, it’s encouraging that there’s a bank sufficiently open-minded to seek the counsel of an adviser who might tell it uncomfortable things.