Concerning alternatives to QE, this, from the Telegraph:
"Another concern is that the Bank’s £375bn Quantitative Easing scheme has
pushed down the value of annuities - although the Bank has pointed out
that the money printing programme has also bolstered the value of
pension pots by boosting share prices, leaving people, ultimately, no
worse off."
Makes my jaw drop.
QE has boosted the appearance of share prices. With printed money.
To make that balance out somehow, we have a government that's decided wages, workers rights, health care, education and services have to be slashed from public spending, and that taxes for just about everyone have to go up. At the same time .. hey? Guess what? Even if your printed money goes straight in to bonds, it's still inflationary!
It's just a blatant lie. "No worse off".
Oh hell in that case, why haven't we been printing billions every year since dot? I mean shit, everyone's better off or at least no worse for it right? ... Right? Why bother with Austerity at all if we could just print our way out of it with nobody any worse off whatsoever?
Sometimes something will leak out of the lofty halls of power that just stuns me with either it's intense stupidity or wilful ignorance. This is one of them.
Either the Bank of England is insanely delusional, or they think any old crap excuse will do because we're all a bunch of suckers.