"It's not 'money printing' it's bond buying. "
Strictly speaking, it's Govt Bond AND Agency buying (MBS)...yes, pedantic, I know. And this buying by the Fed had to be paid for, and it was paid for by money printing, adding some $4.48T (as best I recall) to the US Federal Government Debt. The Debt to GDP ratio is not the highest in the world, but it's higher than in any time outside of wartime (121% - wars cost money, always have), at about 106% now - the highest ever 121% in the 1940's (WW2)
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt-to-gdp
QE was a sign of desperation, after introducing Zero interest rates in Dec 2008. i.e. no more dry powder. This was not successful. ZIRP was not successful, hence this unorthodox practice (QE). Several rounds of QE were also not successful, despite the plethora of "numbers" released by BLS, and numerous other Agencies seen on the Bloomberg Economic Calendar, which I stay up and watch every night, US EDT.
This is the most anemic recovery - if that is what it is, and I say it it is not - since WW2.
But it is a recovery, because the BCDC of the NBER (the final arbiter of such things)
declared it so - the "recovery" started in June 2009. It's their dates that every economics student sees as grey bars on GDP etc. charts, indicating recessions.
CAMBRIDGE September 20, 2010 - "The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met yesterday by conference call. At its meeting, the committee determined that a trough in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in June 2009.
The trough marks the end of the recession that began in December 2007 and the beginning of an expansion. The recession lasted 18 months, which makes it the longest of any recession since World War II. Previously the longest postwar recessions were those of 1973-75 and 1981-82, both of which lasted 16 months.......
...."the committee determined only that the recession ended and a recovery began in that month. "
http://www.nber.org/cycles/sept2010.html
Another clue - after EVERY recession since WW2, the Fed has hiked rates some 2, 3 years after the recovery has commenced. That it has not after 6 1/2 years is sufficient testimony to the failure of efforts by Central Banks, and not just in US. Japan is in perhaps is 3rd triple bottom recession, and EU in similarly dire straits recently introducing the very same failed Fed QE policies.
Finally, if one studies history (especially Niall Ferguson), we see that it teaches us that Empires collapse as a result of debt, typically induced by war(s) . It's no coincidence that US Debt levels have soared since its most recent two foreign conflicts in the Middle East (I ask "in the middle of what", between UK and India, I guess, but I digress) , further exacerbated by QE. go back and look at the historical Debt chart again, and the timing of the two liftoffs this century. We see this over hundreds of years. Nowhere is it stated in stone the US Empire will last forever (none have). Personally, I find this sad, as I am also a voluntarily naturalized American citizen, and spent half my adult life living and working there, in NY. I will defend America against its many attackers, despite its many flaws and imperfections, most notably in its Foreign Policy. But I will also try and tell it like I see it.
Thanks
PS By the way...I'm not so sure QE is over.
