Mervyn King warns about reintroduction of quantitative easing program
Despite only days ago suggesting that the quantitative easing program was unlikely to reappear in the short term, it looks as though the UK government has been warned about the potential reintroduction by Mervyn King, the Gov of the Bank of England. His letter to the Chancellor of Exchequer, clarifying why inflation has risen to 3.5% against the UK government's target of 2%, seemed to indicate that quantitative easing could be reintroduced if the inflationary threat does not recede as expected in the short term.
This flip-flop in economic activity and economic initiatives is causing significant concern within the UK investment community with analysts finding it very difficult to make confident forecast for the future. While there is no doubt that the Bank of England will reintroduce quantitative easing if required there are concerns that this could give the wrong signal to the investment markets, with many analysts already readying themselves for a potential double dip recession.
Over the next few years, when we are able to look back on the current economic downturn and learn lessons, it will be interesting to see exactly what happened, why it happened and what could have been done retrospectively to change the situation.
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