Printing money won't save us from the next wave of deflation

Let's assume for the moment that all the talk of a double-dip recession will translate into the real thing. What's likely to happen? Well, another dose of quantitative easing – or money printing as we like to call it – seems the most likely reaction. The anti-austerity crowd will bray "we told you so". Governments will panic in response, anxious not to be accused of driving the economy into a depression. And so the printing press will be warmed up again. And that will probably result in a rebound in asset prices. But can it work in the longer run? Evidence from the past says no. And I'm not just talking about Japan. Quantitative easing has been tried before in the US too…