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Ben Bernanke
Did QE work?

Almost exactly six years ago, the Federal Reserve launched an unconventional program of buying bonds to rescue a faltering economy. Since then, the Fed's balance sheet has ballooned by $3.5 trillion, close to 25 percent on the nation's gross domestic product. As the central bank ends the program, known as "Quantitative Easing" (or "QE"), the big question is: So did QE work? To answer that question, a quick explainer about QE. In a lecture at George Washington University in 2012, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke explained how QE works. Here's the quick version: The Fed buys U.S. Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, which drives up...