Financial crisis fixes leave policymakers short of ammo for next recession

Central banks would have liked by now to have returned monetary policy to a more normal setting so they have wriggle room when things turn nasty

For 75 months it has been the same story. The nine members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee gather, consider all the latest evidence and decide that official interest rates should remain at 0.5%.

Interest rates are at rock-bottom levels pretty much everywhere in the developed world and the moment for raising them continues to be pushed back. But central banks have not just relied on interest rates. They have also been active in the financial markets, exchanging bonds and other assets for cash. This process, known as quantitative easing, has increased the supply of money and driven down long-term interest rates.