Lombard Street Revisited

It was 35 years ago when I first arrived on Lombard Street, around the end of September, much like now. In those days, my mind was consumed with government bond (UK Gilt and US Treasuries) yields and Libor (London Inter-Bank Offer Rates). For those unfamiliar, Lombard Street was the hub where most major English banks and discount houses were located. If memory serves, every Thursday afternoon, our directors—dressed in formal attire and wearing top hats as Thomas Richardson had done two centuries earlier—would solemnly stroll five minutes down the street to meet with the "Old Lady," the affectionate nickname for the Bank of England.

當我第一次來到倫巴第街時，已經是 35 年前的事了，大約是九月底，就像現在一樣。在那些日子裡，我的腦子裡全是政府公債（英國金邊債和美國公債）孳息率和倫敦銀行同業拆借利率（Libor）。對於那些不熟悉的人來說，倫巴第街主要是英國中央銀行和很多其他金融機構所在的中心。如果沒記錯的話，每週四下午，我們的董事們會像兩個世紀前的托馬斯·理查森那樣，穿著正裝，戴著高頂帽子，莊嚴地沿著街道漫步五分鐘，去見“老太太” （這是對英國中央銀行的暱稱​​）。