After egregiously criticizing the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the committee responsible for conducting the United Kingdom’s monetary policy, John Redwood — astonishingly — piles right into an attack on a weakening pound:

“Today the pound opened lower again on the exchanges against the dollar. That means dearer petrol, dearer commodities, dearer imports from dollar related parts of the world including China. We are poorer as a result.

[…]

Months ago I started warning they were overdoing the easy policy which was bound to lead to a lower pound and higher prices… Why can’t they find people who can get it right?”

But in fact, a weaker pound is just what the British economy needs now.

Currently, the country has a large current account deficit, meaning that we currently import – and therefore must pay for – more goods than we export. Or, to put it another way, we spend more than we make.

A weak pound will simultaneously discourage the purchase of foreign made goods, in favour of suddenly relatively cheaper homegrown fare, while making British made goods and services more competitive across the globe.

At one fell swoop, Britain’s current account deficit is helped back toward balance, while our manufacturing sector becomes more competitive at home and abroad, creating jobs.

So while a weak pound might be bad for those who want to buy BMWs, Chinese-made electronics or foreign holidays, it’s good for jobseekers and people who have invested in British factories.

Only if the pound drops precipitously should we worry: at that stage, investors would likely take flight from sterling denominated securities — including gilts — which would have disastrous consequences for the economy.

But we’re nowhere near that yet, and the current state of neglect for the pound really is a benign economic force.

The Parallax Brief suggests that if the Bank of England ever does decide to look for someone who “can get it right”, it will find pretty fallow ground in Wokingham.