QE2 On The Bottom 80% Of The U.S. Population

Quantitative Easing 2 policy of the Federal Reserve has had and will have a profound effect on the dollar—and a profound effect on the American people: Especially the bottom 80%. In a word, QE2 will make four fifths of the American people poorer. Bernanke’s stated purpose in QE2 is to spark consumer spending, and thereby reignite the economy. But QE2 will have the paradoxical effect of making basic necessities—food, housing, clothing, transportation—more expensive for everyone. This will mean that basic necessities will take a bigger bite out of household incomes, reducing consumption, rather than stimulating it. So like a frog dropped in a pot of cold water that's had the heat turned up, the American people—especially the bottom 60% to 80% of the population—will slowly be boiled to death in the stew of QE2. —Gonzalo Lira