More quantitative easing

Martin Rowson’s cartoon in the Guardian says nearly all there to be said on the latest round of quantitive easing

But not quite all. From our perspective, it is proof of the intellectual bankruptcy of the economic policies and theories followed by the Conservative government, the Labour government before it, and the economists and bankers who advise them. What is, however, hard to understand is this. It is to be expected that QE will drive up asset prices whilst doing nothing to stimulate genuine economic activity, thereby driving down yields. It also tends to hold down the value of the pound against other currencies, and more importantly, against commodities, thereby leading to higher prices in the shops. This is precisely what has been happening. It is a useless policy and remains a potentially dangerous one. One has to ask why these people are persisting in a policy that has not worked, especially when there is no reason to imagine that it ever would or could?