A nalysts' explanations for the Bank of England decision to plough a further £25bn into quantitative easing make it sound about as scientific as necromancy or alchemy. As the FT wrote, one possibility is that the Bank wants to "send a signal" the policy is working and may soon no longer be needed. What was it poet Stevie Smith wrote about misunderstood signals? "I was much further out than you thought and not waving but drowning."

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