In a speech that many political hacks view as a bid to support Britain remaining in the European Union<\/a>, Bank of England governor Mark Carney noted a mixed but mostly positive economic story for the country’s involvement in the bloc.<\/p>\n The gist of Carney’s speech, which can be read in its entirety online<\/a>, is best summarised by the following paragraph near the end:<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, EU membership has increased the openness<\/strong> of the UK economy, facilitating dynamism but also creating some monetary and financial stability challenges<\/strong> for the Bank of England to manage. Thus far, we have been able to meet these challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Politicians, regulators and businessmen tend to use the word \u201cchallenge\u201d when they mean \u201cproblem\u201d. George Orwell would be irked.<\/a>)<\/p>\n Some in the press<\/a> have argued that Carney was pressured by Tory prime minister David Cameron into making some statement about the EU to encourage people to vote for the status quo in the referendum, due to take place in 2016 or 2017.<\/p>\n