On Monday, Mark Carney made news when he announced that he was leaving his job as Governor of the Bank of Canada to become the Governor of the Bank of England.
The governor of a country’s central bank watches over the country’s money, and sets interest rates for borrowing or lending money to governments and others.
The governor also has to make sure there is enough cash in government accounts to cover all the programs it runs. The central bank’s governor sets policies and rules for money matters at the highest level.
Carney told reporters that he took the job with the Bank of England because it will be a challenge. He meant that he wanted to see if he could do a harder, or different, job than what he is doing now.
England is part of the United Kingdom, which is a member of the European Union. Right now, the European Union is facing big decisions to make sure Europe’s financial future is strong. Carney will have to help England to make those decisions.
The announcement came as a surprise in two ways:
Carney still had seven years to go in his contract in Canada, and he didn’t give any warning that he would be moving on. In fact, he had already turned the job down once.
Secondly, it is the first time that a non-British person has been named to this important job in England.
It shows how respected Carney is in world-wide economic circles.
In fact, Wikipedia has this to say about him:
Carney has been credited with shielding Canada from the worst effects of the late-2000s financial crisis, and has earned recognition by the Financial Times and TIME magazine as a top figure in the financial world.
Carney starts his new job in England on July 1.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly and Joyce Grant
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Being the governor of a country’s central bank is a very difficult and important job. How does the writer of this article let you know that, without actually saying it?
Reading Prompt: Elements of Style
This article tells you a bit about England’s economy, and a bit about Canada’s economy. What words hint at the state of those two economies?
How would you compare those two economies in two sentences, using what you learned from the article?
Junior
Identify various elements of style – including word choice and the use of similes, personification, comparative adjectives, and sentences of different types, lengths, and structures – and explain how they help communicate meaning (OME, Reading: 2.4).
Intermediate
Identify various elements of style – including foreshadowing, metaphor, and symbolism – and explain how they help communicate meaning and enhance the effectiveness of texts (OME, Reading: 2.4).
Grammar Feature: Colon
A colon (:) is used before a list or an explanation.
Identify where a colon is used in this article. Why do you think the journalist chose to use a colon here? How does the colon help you to understand the article better?
