With the intensification of the financial crisis in 2008, central banks cut rates sharply and rapidly ran into the zero interest rate bound, necessitating a recourse to non-conventional measures.
These took three forms: large-scale asset purchases (quantitative easing), exceptional liquidity provision and forward guidance on policy rates.
Such measures were important in supporting recovery via a marked improvement in financial market conditions. The UK experience – growth so far in 2013 of 1.8 per cent – offers hope of life after QE, though UK conditions remain supported by the massive QE still being carried out by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.