Quantitative easing, yield curve control, forward guidance ⁠— central banks are employing increasingly complicated ways to bolster the economy. But one central bank says what it is really doing is putting smiles on people’s faces.

The Bank of England, in a blog post called “monetary policy and happiness”, says it has been successful in raising what it called the well-being of most households. And really what the central bank was doing was preventing frowns from being too large, rather than outright smiles.