Europe governments banking on confusion of strangers

MARK Carney, governor of the Bank of England, notoriously remarked in January that the UK was unduly reliant on "the kindness of strangers" - a phrase that sounds like a lovelorn 1950s ballad from Frank Sinatra - to fund its large current account deficit.

Not just in the UK's European Union referendum aftermath, but across Europe, governments and central banks are relying on the confusion of strangers to cover up a topsy-turvy dearth of consistency in policymaking.

George Osborne, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, has forgotten his earlier ill-thought out threat (in the event of an "out" vote) of £30 billion (S$52 billion) worth of higher taxes and lower spending, and is now promising to cut corporation tax to less than 15 per cent to stimulate a post-"Brexit" economy.