Central banks should make clear what QE is for, and then reverse it
Monetary policy has become a muddle
ON AUGUST 26TH central bankers will gather for their annual Jackson Hole jamboree with the shine having come off their record. A year ago they had forestalled a financial crisis during the pandemic’s first wave. Today an inflation surge has made a mockery of the Federal Reserve’s forecasts; a parliamentary committee has said that the Bank of England has a “dangerous addiction” to buying bonds; and everybody expects the European Central Bank (ECB) to undershoot, over a period of years, its shiny new “symmetric” inflation target of 2%, unveiled in July.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Bringing clarity to QE”
Leaders August 21st 2021
- The fiasco in Afghanistan is a grave blow to America’s standing
- Regardless of how covid-19 spread, the world needs to prevent lab leaks
- Central banks should make clear what QE is for, and then reverse it
- How American retailers have adapted to the Amazon effect
- Americans are moving to a region plagued by a 22-year drought
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