Comments by ECB chief economist over the steep path inflation still has to take may mean mortgage rates here stay lower for longer, an economist has said.

The European Central Bank will next quarter consider buying sovereign debt in relation to the size of each euro member’s economy if current stimulus proves insufficient, vice president Vitor Constancio said.

On one side of the Atlantic they’re trying to refill the punchbowl.

Slowly but unsurely Europe is facing up to population trends that will sap long-run economic growth and force nations to choose between cutting pensions and welfare benefits or paying higher taxes to maintain them.