"There are many world leaders who rail against the US central bank's $600bn (£375bn) bond buying spree, which they believe has artificially inflated financial markets and blighted their recovering economies with persistently high inflation.
Without quantitative easing, they argue, their populations could still afford to buy staple foods without busting their already stretched budgets. Local stock markets, flooded with excess US cash, would also stop reaching bubble proportions and threatening to burst, an outcome with horrific consequences for investor confidence.
For the moment, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is willing to pause. Not only is he facing a barrage of criticism from foreign policymakers, but QE has become a central issue for the right-wing Tea Party political movement in the US. Day after day, Republicans parade through the TV studios of CNN and Fox News to denounce Bernanke and his asset purchasing scheme for importing inflation back into the US, especially through higher oil prices, and his refusal to back austerity measures. After $1.8tn of asset purchases dating from QE1 in addition to $600bn from QE2, Republicans say the state has played its final hand".................READ MORE
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