It is unclear whether the OMT case will in fact clear the air. Euroceptic groups and professors in Germany are already planning to file a fresh case against QE at the German Constitutional Court if the purchases escalate, arguing that the scale entails large liabilities for the German taxpayer and circumvents the budgetary sovereignty of the Bundestag.
They argue that QE is fiscal policy by stealth, conducted outside democratic control. Some experts say such a case would give the Bundesbank the legal excuse it wants to step aside from any ECB bond purchases, effectively rendering the ECB action null and void.
Mr Six said QE is a necessary condition for recovery in Europe, but is not sufficient in itself. “The question is where does this bridge take us,” he said. "The eurozone can survive a couple more years of miserable growth but it can’t go on forever like this before people lose hope. There is political risk almost everywhere." On Britain, the agency said the “output gap” used to measure how far the economy is falling short of its potential is still 4.5pc of GDP. This is much higher than the 1pc estimate used by the Bank of England to justify talk of early rate rises.
Mr Six said the UK capital stock has been less damaged than widely assumed by the economic crisis, while abundant immigration has created a pool of cheap labour that is holding down wages.
Economists are deeply split over the size of the output gap: a soft indicator that is very hard to measure, but has nevertheless acquired totemic status. The International Monetary Fund and the OECD club of rich states both have estimates close to 1pc, while the Office for Budget Responsibility is at 1.4pc. Yet a number of private analysts agree with Standard & Poor’s. Andrew Goodwin from Oxford Economics said the gap is 4.4pc based on weak productivity trends and historic evidence that financial crises do not destroy much existing plant.
“There is still a lot of spare capacity in the UK economy. The fact that wage growth has stayed so low for so long is evidence of this. We don’t think there should be any rate rises until the end of the next year at the earliest, and we don’t think there will be any either,” he said.
Standard & Poor’s praised the Bank of England for doing a“very smart job” in its response to the financial crisis by allowing inflation to overshoot its target at crucial phases, effectively eroding the debt burden by boosting nominal GDP. “This has improved Britain’s debt ratios,” Mr Six said.
The contrast with much of the eurozone is striking. The ratio of public debt to GDP has been rising fast in the most heavily indebted EMU economies, overwhelming any gains from austerity cuts.
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