The Bank of England’s second round of quantitative easing may do little to improve economic confidence or to encourage bank lending, and may even lead to more upward pressures on inflation

Abstract

The Bank of England recently announced its decision to inject £75 billion into the economy in its second round of quantitative easing since 2009. Former Monetary Policy Committee member Charles Goodhart OBE FBA and Morgan Stanley’s Jonathan Ashworth argue that while there is still scope to boost the economy, the Bank’s aggressive policy is unlikely to dramatically improve confidence in the UK economy or spur bank lending, and could lead to upward pressures on inflation