$2.$ In $2020,$ in response to the economic effects of the COVID$-19$ pandemic, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey announced that the bank would engage in $$monetary financing$$ through a $$Ways and Means$$ facility. Under this program, the British government would receive funds directly from the Bank of England. The government would then issue bonds and use the money raised to pay back the central bank. An article in the Economist magazine observed that: $$Monetary financing, with its echoes of Zimbabwe and Weimar Germany, raises fears that investors will lose confidence in a central bank seen to be under the thumb of a finance ministry.$$