Simon English: Carney’s on a high and on a hiding to nothing

Outlook If it were possible to buy and sell stock in Mark Carney I'd be shorter than Warwick Davis.

The future governor of the Bank of England has a reputation so sky-high that it can travel in one direction only.

Untarnished by a single day's work at Threadneedle Street, the Canadian, who arrives this summer to replace Sir Mervyn King, is like the next manager of the England football team. The one who is finally going to crack it.

George Osborne seems to think Mr Carney can rescue the economy (he's pretty much given up on this himself) which rather overstates what it is possible for central bankers to do.

They can warn of coming disaster, though Sir Mervyn would say they should expect to be ignored. And they can irritate everyone when they calm an over-exuberant economy by, so the old line goes, taking away the punch bowl just when the party is getting going.

Beyond that, well, miracles are difficult. It isn't Mr Carney's fault that he is bound to disappoint. Or that his personal share price has rocketed past sense on the way to the moon. Sell.