quantitative easing

American  

noun

Economics.

1. the policy by which a central bank creates money and uses it to purchase financial assets, thereby increasing the money supply and stimulating a weak economy. QE

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quantitative easing British  

noun

1. the practice of increasing the supply of money in order to stimulate economic activity

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Etymology

Origin of quantitative easing

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

With interest rates near zero at the time and quantitative easing already well under way, there wasn’t a lot else the Fed could do.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Warsh, despite his stated complaints about bonds on the Fed’s balance sheet, will have to turn toward quantitative easing.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 10, 2026

Warsh served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, and left the central bank after it embarked on a second round of quantitative easing through bond purchases under then-Chair Ben Bernanke.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 3, 2026

He said in a recent Hoover Institution interview that he supported the initial round of what came to be known as quantitative easing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 2, 2026

One kind of monetary policy, which involves the central bank buying private assets, is chunked as quantitative easing.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker