Panacea, Curse, or Nonevent? Unconventional Monetary Policy in the United Kingdom

Author/Editor:

Andre Meier

Publication Date:

August 1, 2009

Electronic Access:

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Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary:

The Bank of England's current "quantitative easing" strategy has given rise to a controversial debate about the effects and risks of unconventional monetary policy. The present paper makes two contributions to this debate. First, it provides a systematic overview of unconventional policy options, drawing from existing theoretical and empirical studies. Against this backdrop, it then analyzes the BoE's specific policies, discussing their effectiveness so far and putting them into a cross-country context. Tentative evidence on the BoE's quantitative easing is moderately encouraging, although the strategy is neither guaranteed to succeed nor as perilous as some of its detractors claim.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2009/163

Subject:

Banking Central bank policy rate Inflation Monetary base Unconventional monetary policies

English

Publication Date:

August 1, 2009

ISBN/ISSN:

9781451873108/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA2009163

Pages:

47

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