The Impact Of Quantitative Easing (QE3)

Investors.com posted an article today on QE3 and the impact it will have on the American economy. The article points out that the economic problems America is currently experiencing are not due to a lack of money–their fiscal.

The article reports:

Fed chief Ben Bernanke defends the QE program, claiming Fed studies showed it boosted GDP by 3% and led to 2 million new jobs.

Even if true, the basic arithmetic is irrefutable: The Fed‘s tab for the QE program is now over $3 trillion. And most of that new money went to buy government debt — not to “stimulate” the private sector.

The article points out that banks and companies are currently holding on to their money rather than spending or investing it. One reason for that is the uncertainty about future tax policy and future federal spending.

The article concludes:

We don’t mean to sound conspiratorial, but a major Fed action coming just before an election is highly suspect — particularly when the sitting president’s foe has said he would not rename Bernanke to his Fed post in January 2014, when his term in office expires.

The government’s addition of $1 trillion a year to our nation’s debt hangs over this economy like a dark cloud, keeping entrepreneurs and big businesses alike on the sideline. The “fiscal cliff” we’re about to go over will sock Americans — especially entrepreneurs — with a tax hike of almost $1 trillion. That’s why the economy’s dead — not insufficient Fed money printing.

Bad leadership has consequences.

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