Uncertainty about the value of the currency itself is a deadly dampener on these necessary activities.

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It comes as separate data showed the UK's trade deficit increased in May, putting a further dampener on the economy.

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"Billy felt Collazo would play spoiler and try to put a dampener on what we want to be an explosive championship debut for Ricky in America, " said Hobson.

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Indeed, the letter to Mr Bernanke criticises QE2 in much the same language used to oppose fiscal stimulus: as a dampener of business confidence and stability.

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These countries are also not really represented in the fixed income market, but this is a market where fixed income is strong, and a good volatility dampener for us.

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Elements of the armed forces are believed to be behind death threats to senior journalists, which, to put it mildly, act as a dampener on the freedom of expression.

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So for the world as a whole, if a financial transactions tax put a bit of a dampener on financial innovation and trading (whether low frequency or high frequency), that would probably be no reason to weep - unless (to state the obvious) investment banking is your life.

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Or to put it another way, this general and widespread sense that the UK's aggregate debts have become too great has been the great dampener on the economy: it is what has kept Britain in a technical depression, with the economy limping along and the overall level of GDP still well below the peak of early 2008.

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