'No clue' Bank of England urged to drop 'anguished religious ethics' over QE

 

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Outgoing rate setter Adam Posen has said the Bank of England should drop its "anguished religious ethics" over how to stimulate the economy, while former MPC (KOSDAQ: 050540.KQ - news) member Danny Blanchflower said it has "no clue" about where the economy is going.

Mr Posen, who for over a year was alone in calling for more quantitative easing, said the BoE should not limit its asset purchases to government bonds.

"I personally view the teeth-gnashing and garment-rending about what's fiscal and monetary as too much drama for too little content," the Financial Times quoted him as saying in an interview.
Many central bankers believe only elected government can buy private sector assets.
Mr Posen said that provided the BoE did not buy debt direct from the government, he didn't think it mattered "that much what assets the central bank acts on".

The Bank of England launched a third round of quantitative easing asset purchases in July taking it to £375bn in an attempt to stimulate the economy. It is buying the debt on the secondary market, that is debt that has already been issued.

"I have no question in my mind that what we're doing with QE is preventing things from getting much worse, but that doesn't mean you couldn't have an additional or better instrument," he said.
Mr Posen also said austerity measures to tackle Britain's biggest peacetime debt has had a greater brake on recovery than the BoE and the government expected.

He felt the outlook for the economy could have been improved if the BoE has acted faster and more decisively to signs of a slowdown.

Mr Blanchflower echoed his view in the Independent , writing: "It is blindingly apparent that the MPC should have done much more monetary stimulus a while ago, including unconventional asset purchases, as suggested by my old friend Adam Posen."

He said the MPC's new growth forecast with a central projection of growth of 2pc by 2013 and beyond with only a slim prospect of zero or negative growth look broadly similar to the one from May 2011 and "looks equally unlikely to be correct".

Mr Blanchflower writes: "The MPC didn't know where the economy had been, didn't know where it was when they made the forecast, and had no clue where it was going and still doesn't".

Are You Anguished by your Expenses of Prescription Medicines

It is not at all unusual to fall ill and go through the treatment but the fact that is disturbing us the most these days is the unusual expenses of our medical bills. The prescription medicines are becoming unaffordable for more and more people every day. The purpose of writing this article is to make people cognizant about how to deal with the high price of prescription medicines.
 
It is an old saying that you should never hide anything from your doctor. That is why you can even share your financial problem with him by telling him that you are finding it difficult to afford the expensive prescription medicines. You can discuss with him that can you go for generic drugs. If yes, then can the doctor suggest some generic meds? Once your doc says yes for it you should discuss your dosage also. This is a proper and safe method for taking the cheaper generic drugs.You can also ask your doctor that whether those prescription medicines are available in somewhat low price by other pharmaceutical companies. Apart from a consultation with your doctor, you can do your own research by calling up at various pharmaceuticals and checking out on the price of that specific medicine which you need. You can opt for the one that suits you the most.
 
It is also salubrious to take help from the available prescription medicines help. Such type of help or benefit is provided by certain non- profit organizations. These organizations run several programs which contain a certain criteria for patients. The patients who fit into these programs and fit into the organizations' criteria are eligible to enjoy the help on their prescription medicines. Many people do not know about such health assistance programs. All you need to do is to find out such programs by visiting the sites of such organizations or by discussing the same with your doctor, relatives or friends.

Once the person is found eligible in such health assistance programs, the prescription medicines are delivered to his address. The patient should carefully check these medicines. He should check that the delivered medicines match his prescription. Another popular method these days is to check various online pharmacies. Some of these pharmacies provide discount on some special drugs. These pharmacies also run a membership program through which the regular patients can get discount on their prescription medicines. For finding out such pharmacies, you can search the web but you should always check for the authenticity of any visual pharmacy before making it a final choice for the buying of drugs.  

Anguished English

    Just a month ago English teachers across the country finished correcting final themes and many will sent additional examples to Richard Lederer to add to hiscollection of fractured language. His two books, Anguished English (Wyrick & Company, 1987) and The Bride of Anguished English (St. Martin's Press, 2000), are worth many laughs.

    I've been interested in these kinds of malapropisms, misspellings, misplaced modifiers and confused metaphors ever since one of my university students wrote that his idea should be "taken for granite."

    I offer a few of Lederer's collected examples that apply to natural history:

ASTRONOMY

• Comets...are thought to be ruminants from the beginning of the universe.
• Headline: Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?

BIRDS

• In 1957, Eugene O'Neill won a Pullet Surprise. Each Thanksgiving it is a tradition in our family to shoot peasants.
• News dispatch: The crime bill would reinstate the death penalty for certain violent crimes: assassinating the President; hijacking an airliner; and murdering a government poultry inspector.
• Can anybody explain why Kiwi International Airlines is named after a bird that cannot fly?

BOTANY

• The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects.
• I don't want to cast asparagus at my opponent!
• Wanted: Unmarried girls to pick fresh fruit and produce.
• Seen in a Pennsylvania cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.
• Sign outside a gift shop: Live Artificial Trees.

DISEASE AND MEDICINE

• World War II ended on VD day.
• The blood circulates through the body by flowing down one leg and up the other.
• The patient has no past history of suicides.
• Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbis.
• The patient experienced mood swings because she suffered from PBS.
• A brand claim: Every rectal thermometer made by Q-Tip is personally tested.

FISH

• A squid has ten to twelve testicles that hang down from its body.
• Headline: Yellow Perch Decline to be Studied.

ARTHROPODS

• Get rid of aunts: Zap does the job in 24 hours.
• Seen in a Michigan restaurant: The early bird gets the worm; special shoppers' luncheon before 11 a.m.

GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY

• In the Olympic games the reward to the victor was a coral wreath.
• Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• Headline: Experts Increase Probability of a Big Quake in California

MAMMALS

• Artificial insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow and not the bull.
• Queen Elizabeth's navy went out and defeated the Spanish Armadillo.
• A skunk was found wandering among the phews of a local church.
• Lost: small apricot poodle; reward; neutered; like one of the family.
• Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children.
• Song line: Chipmunks roasting on an open fire.
• The Civil War was started by John Brown, a rabbit abolitionist.
• Headline: 4-H Girls Win Prizes for Fat Calves.

PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY

• Vacuums are nothings; we only mention them to let them know that we know they are there.
• Water is composed of two gins, oxygen and hydrogen; oxygen is pure gin, hydrogen is gin and water.

WEATHER

• Wind is like air, only pushier.
• Seen on a Tennessee highway: Take notice: when this sign is under water, this road is impassable.
• Headline: Typhoon Rips Cemetery, Hundreds Dead.

GENERAL

• Rural life is lived mostly in the country.
• Porter...lectured on "Destructive Pests;" a large number were present.
• Headline: Sterilization Solves Problems for Pets, Owners.
• Many dead animals in the past changed into fossils while others preferred to be oil.
• Genetics explains why you look like your father and if you don't, why you should.

    We had better be able to laugh at these examples for most of us have contributed to them.-- Gerry Rising

How anguished anglers stop us hosing the roses

A change in the philosophy of water management has led to the current hosepipe ban.

By the end of this week, hosepipe bans are likely to have been imposed on more than 18 million people, nearly a third of Britain's population, as a result of the worsening drought. According to the meteorologists' definition of drought - at least 15 consecutive days with rainfall less than one-hundredth of an inch, or 0.25mm - most of Britain is certainly experiencing drought. Many areas have had the longest, hottest spell of weather since 1976. But water shortages are not generally caused by dry summers, but by dry winters. From April to September plants are growing most actively, and their growth uses a lot of water; a typical figure for south-east England would be the equivalent of a depth of water of about 100mm per month, or twice the average monthly rainfall. Since all the water cannot come from the rain, it comes from the soil, which dries out. Any rain that does fall during this time, instead of being shed to flow to rivers, or trickling on down through the soil to replenish the aquifers, is absorbed.

So "drought" in summer makes little difference to the amount of water available for us to use. Demand increases through garden watering and spray irrigation but thisusually represents a relatively small proportion of our annual national consumption.
 
One problem is what water companies call the garden-centre syndrome. This occurs in May, when gardeners rush out to buy plants, shove them in the ground and water them copiously. At that time we may pose a problem to the water companies, not because they are short of water, but because the water-mains cannot cope with carrying all that extra water. The pipes are too narrow to carry enough water quickly enough. This year, the "garden- centre" effect started late and seems to be carrying on.

The first bans on hosepipes and sprinklers were imposed not because of a resources problem (the quantity of water available) but because of distribution problems: in some areas so many people were using hoses and sprinklers that those living on high ground were without water because of the fall in mains pressure. As the dry weather has pushed up demand, some companies - especially those relying on reservoirs - now face a resources problem, and are also imposing hosepipe bans.

In the east, where groundwater is the main supply source, the wet winter brought exceptional replenishment to aquifers, leaving groundwater levels at or near record highs. These levels are falling rapidly, but are not yet a cause for concern. As they fall the flow of a few streams and smaller rivers will be reduced. Partly because of this, and the resultant cries of anguish from anglers, there has been a change in philosophy in the British water establishment.

In the past, the water industry was "demand led". The policy was to meet demand, sinking new boreholes or building new reservoirs and pipelines as necessary. Last year, the National Rivers Authority introduced demand "management". In essence, the NRA is telling water companies that they cannot expect approval to construct new water sources until they show they have done what they can to reduce demand for water and have done all they reasonably can to reduce water wasted from leaking mains.

In the days when water was usually supplied by a local water board, with the cost "lost" in the rates, appeals for less use of water would likely have been heeded. Now that it is supplied by private companies whose charges and profits have been hitting the headlines, appeals seem less effective. Is metering the answer? The NRA and Ofwat tend to believe it is; the water companies are not so sure. True, it would answer the complaints of people living alone, who object to paying as much for their water as a large family in the same size of house. But water is not like electricity, for which much of the production cost comes from the fuel used in its generation. Water does not have to be generated; although there is a unit cost associated with pumping and treating each litre, much of the cost is associated with the provision and maintenance of the system that brings water to each property - and that cost is the same whether the property is occupied by one person or six. So a fair system of charging for water would have a very high standing charge, and a relatively low unit charge. This is unlikely to reduce consumption, since it means in essence that the water becomes proportionally cheaper as more is used. People in large mansions use a lot, and may not be deterred either by the extra cost or by appeals for conservation.

Another problem with metering is that, for properties served by mains sewerage, it forms the basis for the sewage charge as well as the water charge. It is assumed that every litre of water supplied to the property is also taken away as sewage. For most domestic use this is a reasonable assumption, but it falls down when a lot of water is used in the garden. Since that water does not have to be taken away and treated, it means the avid gardener is paying about twice as much for each litre put on the garden as for each litre used for washing up. Large organisations can request a "non-return to sewer" allowance, but that option is unlikely to be available for the Smiths' herbaceous borders. And much of the insistence on use reduction arises from well-off people who want their village streams and fishing rights safeguarded. Why should the rest of us have our demands managed so their demands can be met? If the Labour Party wants a cause to champion, that might be a better one than Frank Dobson's recent crusade against leaking pipes.

Leakage in Britain is high, but is being reduced. Treating and pumping water which then leaks from the mains is a waste of money, but there comes a point where it is more economic to do that than to repair every minor leak. Most water engineers say that point comes when leakage is down to around 10-15 per cent, depending on the area. Britain still has some way to go to achieve that figure, but it is hard to be certain. Ironically, one of the least-stated benefits of water-metering would be that it would help to identify just where the leaks are - and many small leaks may well turn out to be on the customer's side of the water meter. Very often the water that leaks is not "lost": it often forms unintentional recharge to aquifers or supplements low river flows.

Comparisons are now being made with 1976. But 1976 came after a dry winter and the hot dry summer of 1975. This summer has followed an exceptionally wet winter, just as 1975 did. If dry conditions persist into the autumn, as they did in 1975, and are followed by a dry winter, the comparisons will begin to mean something. Then the debate over water may really hot up.

 

Anguished English is a 1987 book published, compiled and written by Richard Lederer, which evaluates and also gives many examples of the way the English language is routinely butchered by native and non native English speakers. His examples, many taken from student essays, headlines around the world, classified ads, and famous quotes, are sure to have you giggling non-stop. In fact Anguished English proved so popular that Lederer followed up this first successful book with several sequels, including More Anguished English and The Bride of Anguished English.

In addition to providing hours of entertainment, particularly for verbivores, defined by Lederer as eaters of words, Anguished English and its sequels certainly provide a delightful way of instructing folks in the errors so easily made by trips of the tongue, mixed metaphors, and misquotes. The books aren’t intentionally instructive or preachy, but they can be said to teach through example of “how not to do it.” A few of the interesting examples Lederer provides are a bit racy for younger kids, but for the PG-13 audience, or at least PG audience, these examples do serve as wonderful departures for teaching about a variety of grammar mistakes, like split infinitives or misspellings that completely change the meaning of a sentence.

A favorite section for many is the one that includes examples of English mistranslated by foreign speakers. This section has actually spawned devotees to finding various mistranslations in foreign countries. One particular site is mainly devoted to the extensive use of English in Japan, has numerous pictures, signs and advertisements that are rendered amusing by their translations into English.

Naturally, while there is Anguished English, there are also numerous ways in which English-speaking countries have decimated foreign languages. One classic example was the failed marketing and the stagnant sales of the Chevy Nova, in the 1970s in South America and Mexico. The car was a fine automobile, but in Spanish speaking countries its name translated to “no go,” not exactly a name to inspire brand confidence.
Teachers have long cornered the market on reading the various student mistakes that can inspire great misunderstanding and loud bursts of laughter, and Anguished English can make a terrific gift for these folks. Lederer, in his book and sequels, has opened the field for any to enjoy such bloopers, whether they occur in student essays, church bulletins, medical reports or court records. He furthermore devotes a section to mondegreens, frequent misunderstandings of song lyrics, including the US anthem, where the opening line may be sung as “Jose, can you see?”

There are a few cautions toward enjoying Lederer’s work. Don’t read these books by yourself in public unless you want people to think you are simply odd, and subject to spontaneous laughter for no reason. Don’t read Lederer’s books if you’re trying to get to sleep; the subjects are likely to promote wakefulness rather than sleepiness. Also, you may want to wait a few days to pick up Anguished English if you’ve just had your appendix removed. Though laughter is usually painless, hearty chuckles and belly laughs may give your stomach too much of a workout!