Business Diary: Don't push your luck, Mervyn

It was brave of Mervyn King yesterday to compare the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee to England's cricket team, ready to attack or defend the next ball (or bout of inflation) depending on the line, length and pace of its delivery. Given the history of England teams and their collapses over the year, isn't the Governor rather tempting fate? Both for England's Ashes hopes in Australia this winter, and for the poor old British economy.

The Tories thank the Governor

On the subject of Mr King, the Financial Times' front-page lead yesterday focused on mounting concerns over whether his support for the Government's fiscal austerity programme might represent a move too far away from the political impartiality the Bank is expected to maintain at all costs. So it wasn't too sensitive of Conservative Party Central office to send out a string of Tweets following Mr King's remarks yesterday, pointing out his latest support for their tighter fiscal policy.

America's credit rating is cut again

America has had its credit rating cut for the second time in less than a month this week. Why haven't you heard more about such a dramatic economic development? Well possibly because the ratings agency doing thecutting is China's Dagong, which the country hopes will become an Asian rival for industry giants such as Standard & Poor's and Moody's. Now, we're not saying there were political considerations at play here, but one has to wonder. Still, at least Dagong has a sense of humour, cutting therating just as China and the US prepare to slug it out at the G20 meeting starting in Korea today.

Don't keep your salary a secret

The answer to workplace stress, reckons Bloomberg columnist Matthew Lynn, is to let everyone know what their colleagues earn. "We tend to feel insecure about what we are making – we look around us and assume that others are earning much more," says Lynn. "The chances are that we get a salary somewhere in the middle. If we were more open, we'd probably be pleasantly surprised, and realise we are doing OK. Our self-esteem would improve." So there you have it.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk