Let’s turn our attention to the global economy. Last week the Bank of England said it would buy 60 billion pounds of government debt in order to cushion the economy against the impact of the recent Brexit vote. England and the European Union are emulating the quantitative easing (QE) policies of the US Federal Reserve but so far without any measurable success.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has begun a massive stimulus program which may already be having an effect on Japan’s bond yields. There has been talks of Japan initiating a “helicopter money” scheme whereby the BoJ would directly finance fiscal spending.
Indeed, loose money policies in England, China, and Japan are all the talk right now among investors. The attempts by the ECB, BoJ, and People’s Bank at stimulating their way out of deflation have yet to show appreciable results, but this won’t stop them from trying.