In defence of People’s Quantitative Easing | Letters
Two comments on my letter concerning the use of People's Quantitative Easing to buy out PFI (27 September) in your paper on 28 September require a response.
Martin Wheatcroft says that the Bank of England reserve deposits of our clearing banks, which is where most QE funds are now located, have interest paid on them, meaning that People's QE is not costless, and that cost could rise, considerably. He makes three mistakes. First, interest is only paid by Bank of England discretion. It could withdraw or limit it. Second, he quotes nominal and not inflation-adjusted interest rates, and it is adjusted rates that matter overall for People's QE because they indicate the real cost. Third, he assumes UK interest rates will rise without QE being unwound, and that is exceptionally unlikely. His scenario will not come to pass: if rates were as high as he suggests there would be no QE-generated funds in the Bank of England on which interest would be due.
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