Mervyn King gets backing after attack by New York Times

Economists leapt to the defence of Mervyn King today following an astonishing attack on the Bank of England Governor by the influential New York Times.

The paper launched a vicious assault yesterday on page one of its business section which was this morning repeated on the front page of its sister publication The International Herald Tribune.

The piece opened: "A central banker need not be loved, but at the least he should command respect, and in Britain these days, Mervyn A King can count on neither."

Its unbalanced tone and lack of any new substance left pundits this side of the Atlantic mystified as to what lay behind the attack at the newspaper.

It condemned King's inflation record, questioned his independence, and said his views on rebuilding bank balance sheets had "so far been ignored".

Former ratesetter and King critic David Blanchflower was also wheeled out to attack the Governor's "search for power".

Inflation is running at 3.7%, nearly double the Bank's 2% target.

Colin Ellis, the ex-Bank of England executive and now British Venture Capital Association chief economist, said: "Mervyn King does divide opinion but I don't think there is a crisis of confidence in him. He is a clever guy and he is doing his best."

RBS economist Ross Walker, who said Blanchflower was "embittered" by his time on the MPC, said King's stance on inflation was "legitimate" even if economists disagreed and defended his comments on deficit-slashing plans by the Government.

The Bank declined to comment.