Developed economies: Preparing to tighten up?

Divergent policies of the most powerful monetary bloc and the most powerful country of the world have left global aficionados perplexed about what could be next.
As the US Fed touted reduced unemployment lead by monetary easing as indications of policy success, the European Central Bank (ECB) embarked on a tightening trajectory for the first time since 2008, hiking up interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent last week.
Both the ECB and the US had marched on a policy of quantitative easing during the past year to provide an anti-recessionary stimulus to their respective economies, spurring the coining of the now well-known term, Quantitative Easing-II or QE2 to describe the loose policy stance.
The fresh tightening stance of the blocs central bank comes at the heels of rising energy and food prices, marking the first attempt by a major central bank of the developed world since the recession.
The rate has been oft-criticised for its one-size-fits-all stance, bearing in mind that quite a few countries in the European bloc are grappling with debt problems. To be precise, there are fears that the so-called PIGS - Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain - will be hit by higher borrowing costs in already deficit-strewn economies.
But whats even more boggling for the blocs followers is whether a series of further rate hikes is on the cards, or whether the ECB will stay put with this decision for quite some time.
While the perilous debt situation of other member countries makes another rate hike seem like a rather unpopular idea, cues in the ECBs monetary policy statement have been interpreted as indicating towards a hawkish monetary stance. This is despite Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the ECBs statement, "We did not decide today that it was the first in a series of interest-rate increases."
Economists are predicting a rate rise every quarter this year, with a resulting rate of 2 percent by year-end.
Being key players in the developed world, the ECB hawks have also created ripples regarding the US Feds next policy move, with markets speculating if the Fed will follow the footsteps of its European counterpart, or if a round of further easing will ensue.
It would be pertinent to highlight here that the job duties of the two central banks are different, as pointed out by CNN, "The ECB has merely one job duty - to keep prices stable. The Fed has two - to monitor inflation and maximize employment."
With Fed officials themselves establishing that an exit plan for QE2 - focused first on normalisation and then tightening of monetary policy - has been prepared, QE3 appears far-fetched at this moment.
As for a possible tightening anytime soon, the fragile economic recovery of the US has cast doubts on the feasibility of such a move. Yet, inflationary fears from rising commodity prices - which, by the way, are being pointed out as a change in trends and basic dynamics rather than a one-off anomaly - has created a nail-biting scenario for the Fed.
According to Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, "If inflation does not fall back soon and if inflation expectations deteriorate, tightening will, alas, have to occur," implying that such a move may not be optimal for the US.
For emerging economies that had been cynical of monetary easing by the developed world because of the resultant liquidity gush which created asset bubbles in their economies, the gradual digression of monetary policies indicates a breather.
But it would be highly unwise for the emerging giants to heave a relieved sigh since not only will the path towards tightening take its sweet time, but, as the Wall Street Journal cited, fund managers believe, "It would take much more tightening from the ECB to impact global liquidity and risk appetite."