Imagine Jailing the Central Bankers Who Saved the World

By Mark Gilbert, Bloomberg View

The U.K. may be on the verge of an unprecedented experiment in public accountability. The courts may soon be invited to consider the following question: Should government officials face prosecution if the actions they took to support the financial system during the credit crisis stink in hindsight?

In late 2007 and early 2008, with markets in a meltdown and the health of British banks under relentless scrutiny, the Bank of England belatedly pumped money into the financial system. With money markets seized up and liquidity hard to find, banks were invited to trade assets ...