Independence exaggerated

LETTER - Letter published in the London edition of the Financial Times on Wednesday from David Kern.

Sir, Chris Huhne ("A flawed independence", 20 June) exaggerates the importance of the European Central Bank's alleged greater independence of political control in explaining why 10-year real government bond yields are some 100 basis points higher in the UK than in the eurozone.

Although totally independent in strictly legal terms, the ECB (unlike the pre-euro Bundesbank) lacks both credibility and

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