Robin has got what he asked for. The Federal Reserve today made a dramatic step forward in its attempt to revive the US economy and for the first time announced that further asset purchases will be open-ended, meaning that the central bank won’t stop buying until economic conditions improve.

During previous rounds of QE, the Fed has committed only to buy a fixed amount of assets. Today, it pledged to expand its balance sheet by a potentially unlimited amount until the outlook for the labour market improves “substantially”. Read more