Quantitative Easing

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Quantitative easing refers to the practice of pumping money into the economy of a nation so that the banks are encouraged to lend. The government injects money into the economy with the hope that people and companies will be able to sped more. There is a greater chance for an economy to spring back to life when there is increased spending.

In quantitative easing the government buys its own bonds such as gilts, or bond issued by companies and other assets. This means that the commercial banks will be getting more money in their accounts with the central bank, which in return gives them confidence to increase lending to customers and to each other. The extra lending boosts cash and credit flowing in an economy.

The US Federal reserve is not a government entity. It is a private institution that works at the courtesy of the US government. It acts as a banker to all other US banks. It is permitted to operate with substantial independence. However, the US congress can amend the central banks powers or even strip them away. It was created by the US government officials and the nation’s most powerful banks under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. It was created for self-interest. Today however, most people view it as a necessity and as a necessary evil by some.

The Federal Open Market committee met in January 2009 and the information received showed that the economy continued to contract .There was a lot of job losses, declining equity and housing wealth, and tight credit conditions had weighed on consumer spending. There was a reduction on inventories and fixed investments due to weaker sales prospects and difficulties in obtaining credit (Alloway, 2010). The US export had slumped as a number of the major trading partners had also fa...

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...could disrupt the global recovery. Bernanke however insist that buying up US government debt with freshly created money is necessary to ward-off deflation, and to get more Americans back to work.

Cited Works

Alloway Tracy. The Banking System Still Broken. Financial Times, Nov. 2010. Retrieved from,

http://search.ft.com/search?queryText=quantitative+easing&ftsearchType=type_news

Elliot Larry & Inman Philip. “US Federal Reserve” Times Online, March 5, 2009. Retrieved

from, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5850466.ece

Economist Washington DC. “Quantitative Easing Is Unloved And Unappreciated-But It Is

Working.” November 4, 2010. Retrieved from, http://www.economist.com/node/17417742

Wall Street. “The end of quantitative easing”. March 21, 2011. Retrieved from

http://wallstreetchalkboard.com/the-end-of-quantitative-easing/

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