European Central Bank Quantitative Easing, and What It Means for U.S. Investors
June 2, 2015
Last January, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced for the first time in its 17-year history that it was going to begin buying government and corporate bonds, at the rate of €60 billion ($67 billion) a month at least until September 2016 in an attempt to stave off deflation and spur the euro zone’s economy. It’s a process called “quantitative easing,” or QE, and, according to economists’ consensus, its use by the Federal Reserve – the U.S. central bank – helped lift our economy out of recession six years ago. (more…)