Doves versus the Hawks!

The latest minutes (November meeting) from the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) highlight some clear divisions among its members in relation to the future direction of UK monetary policy. Seven members voted for the further £25bn boost to the quantitative easing (QE) programme which took the total to date up to £200bn. One dovish member (David Miles) actually wanted the QE to amount to some £40bn. In contrast one other hawkish member (Spencer Dale) wanted no further QE at all. These divisions reflect the wider view of the City economists. In recent weeks we have seen some of them arguing that we should do more to promote growth and that any inflationary threat was minimal. In contrast some others now feel that the Bank's actions have gone too far. They fear that we could see a serious rise in UK inflation next year. To be honest it is hard to decide which side of this argument that I feel most comfortable to support. There are clearly some inflationary pressures mounting reflected in higher oil prices and the more confident tone of the stock market. Against that there is clearly a risk that the economic recovery could hit the buffers during 2010. If that happens the risk of higher inflation will soon disappear. We live in interesting times!

Manufacturing output improving?

Yesterday we saw the publication of some slightly more encouraging data on the UK's manufacturing sector. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 53.7% in October. This compared to a figure just below 50% in September. In the United States the equivalent PMI is a major economic release and this would have hit the headlines. However, in the UK this data is more low key. The significance of the data is that any figure above 50% indicates that this sector is growing. So the rise from below 50% to 53.7% in October could be taken a clear sign that the worst is over. However, we should wait to see this trend confirmed with November's data published in early December.