Quantitative Easing (QE) Conference

June 30, 2011, at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ Quantitative Easing (QE) Conference brought together leading academics, policymakers and representatives from international central banks to discuss the effectiveness of quantitative easing as a tool of monetary policy. The papers that were presented focus on the financial market effects of large-scale asset purchases on long-term bond yields, foreign exchange rates and asset prices.

Welcoming Remarks and Thoughts on QE
James Bullard
remarks | press release

"Large-Scale Asset Purchases by the Federal Reserve: Did They Work?"
Gagnon et al. examine the effect of the December 2008 and March 2009 installments of the Federal Reserve’s Large-Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) programs. The LSAP could reduce the yields on long-term bonds in a combination of ways, including a reduction in the term premium and the pre-payment premium and an improvement in how these markets function.
Presenter: Matthew Raskin
Coauthors: Joseph Gagnon, Julie Remache, Brian Sack
Discussants: Jim Hamilton, Kevin Hoover
summary | research paper 

"The Large-Scale Asset Purchases Had Large International Effects"
The author divides the important LSAP events into five “buy” events that discussed or announced future purchases of assets and three “sell” events that discussed or announced delays or reductions in future purchases of assets.
Presenter: Christopher J. Neely
Discussants: Kenneth Kuttner, Owen Humpage
summary | research paper

"The Effectiveness of Alternative Monetary Policy Tools in a Zero Lower Bound Environment"
Hamilton and Wu estimate the effects of quantitative easing on the term structure: They use a model based on Vayanos and Vila’s and initially estimate this model using monthly data for the period January 1990 through July 2007, the pre-financial crisis period.
Presenter: Cynthia Wu
Coauthor: James Hamilton
Discussants: Taeyoung Doh, Dan Thornton
summary | research paper

"The Financial Market Impact of Quantitative Easing"
Based on analysis of the reaction of financial market prices and econometric estimates, this paper attempts to assess the impact of the Bank’s QE policy on asset prices.
Presenter: Michael Joyce
Coauthors: Ana Lasaosa, Ibrahim Stevens, Matthew Tong
Discussants: Ed Nelson, Bruce Mizrach
research paper (includes summary)

"Flow and Stock Effects of Large-Scale Treasury Purchases"
The authors distinguish between two types of impact that the LSAP program might have had—flow effects and stock effects.
Presenter: Thomas B. King
Coauthor: Stefania D’Amico
Discussants: Michael Fleming, Chris Lamoureux
summary | research paper 

Full Agenda