The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee confirmed its 0.5 per cent base rate of interest yesterday. Thus the UK remains, with the Federal Reserve of the US, the Bank of Japan and even the European Central Bank in the very low interest rate club. Critics argue that this policy – even more than quantitative easing, in which the Federal Reserve is now engaged and the Bank of England may engage again – is unfair and inefficient. Are they right? “Yes and no” is the answer. These are bad policies. But alternatives are worse.
英國央行貨幣政策委員會(Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee)日前將基準利率維持在0.5%不變，由此與美聯(lián)儲(Fed)、日本央行(BoJ)乃至歐洲央行(ECB)一道，繼續(xù)留在了“極低利率”俱樂部里。批評者提出，較之美聯(lián)儲正在實施以及英國央行可能再次實施的定量寬松，該政策甚至更加不公平和缺乏效率。他們的觀點對嗎？答案是：“既對也不對”。這些政策是很糟糕。但其它選擇更加糟糕。