More QE would cause inflation, Martin Weale warns Martin Weale, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said that Britain's weak rate of productivity made it difficult to justify any further stimulus. His comments drive another nail into quantitative easing's (QE) coffin after the Bank voted against extending the £375bn programme this month. Economists have grown increasingly sceptical about QE since Spencer Dale, the Bank's chief economist, warned that it risked hurting growth by pushing up inflation in September. MPC members are expected to have been split over the decision this month. The meeting's minutes todayWED will show the scale of the divide. Speaking at the University of Manchester, Mr Weale said: "My analysis suggests that additional stimulus would, without any corresponding improvement in productivity, add to inflation." He added that he expected inflation to "remain above [the Bank's 2pc] target for much of the next two years" and that the sharp jump in the consumer prices index last month from 2.2pc to 2.7pc was "an unwelcome surprise." Mr Weale's analysis found that the weak job market has hit the young hardest in terms of both pay and unemployment levels. Overall, he said, below-inflation pay rises were not enough to control inflation as long as productivity in the workforce remained so poor. Poor productivity means relative costs for companies are rising. "With stagnant or falling productivity, wage growth of even 2pc per annum is at best barely compatible with the inflation target," he said. Average pay grew by 1.9pc in the three months to September, according to the Office for National Statistics. He added that companies were unlikely to alter their price plans for fear that higher prices would reduce customers" spending power. It is quite an act of faith to believe that other price-setters will put up their prices less because they anticipate spending power being reduced as a result of these administered price changes, at least without the Bank maintaining a tighter monetary policy than would otherwise be the case.