UK rates Choosing your poison

The Bank of England would rather risk inflation than a debt crunch. That, at least, is the implication of its interest-rate cut. As expected, it cut the overnight interest rate from 4.75% to 4.5%, the first reduction since February 2003. For a central bank that is supposed to be thinking about inflation, this move may seem hard to explain. Inflation is showing no signs of falling and growth is barely below par. However, the bank seems to be worried that the UK’s overindebted consumers will throw...