quantitative easing

quantitative easing, a set of unconventional monetary policies that may be implemented by a central bank to increase the money supply in an economy. Quantitative easing (QE) policies include central-bank purchases of assets such as government bonds (see public debt) and other securities, direct lending programs, and programs designed to improve credit conditions. The goal of QE policies is to boost economic activity by providing liquidity to the financial system. For that reason, QE policies are considered to be expansionary monetary policies.

The primary policy instrument that modern central banks use is a short-term interest rate that they can control. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed), the central bank of the United States, uses the federal funds rate as its instrument to conduct monetary policy. The Fed decreases the federal funds rate during times of economic hardship such as recessions. The lower federal funds rate helps reduce other interest rates and allows banks and other lending institutions to offer relatively low-interest loans to consumers and businesses. That has the effect of boosting economic activity, as cheaper credit makes it easier for consumers and businesses to make purchases.

Central banks adopt QE policies in situations in which adjusting the short-term interest rate is no longer effective—mainly because it has approached zero—or when the banks see the need to give the economy an extra boost. In the early 1990s, when short-term interest rates had reached almost zero after numerous back-to-back reductions, the central bank of Japan chose to lend money directly to banks to provide them with needed liquidity to make loans in an effort to fight the economic stagnation afflicting the country. Similarly, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England injected their banking systems with billions of dollars in direct lending and asset purchases to prevent their collapse in the aftermath of the 2007–08 financial crisis. The Fed also implemented several QE programs to mitigate the crisis, including purchases of mortgage-backed securities and government bonds from financial institutions. Between 2008 and 2014, the Fed bought $3.7 trillion worth of bonds from the market, increasing its bond holdings eightfold during the period.

One drawback of QE policies is that using them excessively can result in surging inflation, if ample liquidity translates into too many loans and too many purchases, putting upward pressure on prices. For that reason, central banks tend to resort to QE policies relatively rarely, and in general they try to maintain a delicate balance between helping the financial system when it is in need of cash and guarding against possible inflationary pressures.