Bank Of England Starts Quantitative Easing

As expected, the Bank of England reduced short-term interest rates to 0.5% today, leaving them with little room to cut further. But no need to worry (in case you did worry about it inflating too little), the Bank of England will now start what is called "quantitative easing", which is to say purchasing assets and paying for them with money created "out of thin air".

Unlike the Fed, the Bank of England will focus on government securities (though some private assets might be bought as well), buying £75 billion of them in a first step and an additional £75 billion later.

Similar moves in America by the Fed have had some success in boosting the money supply, but no success at all in reviving economic growth. There is little reason to believe the Bank of England's moves will work better.