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The Wealth Effects of Quantitative Easing

Author

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  • John H. Huston

    (Trinity University)

  • Roger W. Spencer

    (Trinity University)

Abstract

The Federal Reserve employed aggressive measures over the past eight years to stimulate a sluggish economy. These included Operation Twist and quantitative easing rounds one (QEI), two (QEII), and three (QEIII) with an emphasis on the purchase of mortgage-backed securities. Chairman Ben Bernanke made it clear that the Fed’s policies should work not only through low interest rates alone, but also through wealth creation. This paper explores the effectiveness of the Fed’s actions to increase asset prices and thus enable the wealth effect. We find that increases in monetary aggregates, such as the monetary base, excess reserves and M2, increased equity prices. This was particularly evident in Operation Twist and the purchase of mortgage-backed securities. The purchase of mortgage-backed securities was also seen as increasing housing prices.

Suggested Citation

  • John H. Huston & Roger W. Spencer, 2016. "The Wealth Effects of Quantitative Easing," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 44(4), pages 471-486, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:atlecj:v:44:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s11293-016-9511-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11293-016-9511-9
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    1. Godwin Olasehinde-Williams & Ifedola Olanipekun & Oktay Özkan, 2024. "Stock Market Response to Quantitative Easing: Evidence from the Novel Rolling Windows Nonparametric Causality-in-Quantiles Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 64(2), pages 947-977, August.
    2. Jae Young Jang & Erdal Atukeren, 2019. "Sustainable Local Currency Debt: An Analysis of Foreigners’ Korea Treasury Bonds Investments Using a LA-VARX Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-23, June.

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