The wisdom of a third round of money-printing by the US Federal Reserve was up for debate at the CFA Institute's conference in Edinburgh yesterday, as David Blanchflower, the maverick former member of the interest-rate setting committee at the Bank of England, squared off against James Grant, editor of the US investor magazine Grant's Interest Rate Observer.

Blanchflower, known for his often-trenchant criticisms of the current UK government's fiscal austerity, told delegates yesterday that most economists, and the financial markets, are being far too optimistic in their predictions for global growth. He fears austerity drives in developed markets risk a "double-dip" recession.