[Retric]

I generally agree with what your saying, but...

As I said QE is about creating money in the short term. However, there are vary good reasons why the FED buys bonds vs say Gold. A major goal is to reduce the interest rate on long term loans. But, this means that the asset they acquire is generally worth more nominal dollars in the future. So when sold or simply paid back the money supply shrinks.

That's not to say the FED can't purchase more assets to make up for the lost money. But, the temperary nature of QE is seen as a benifit that helps avoid inflation.

[btilly]

I'm curious. By what mechanism and on what timeline do you think that QE will end?

Yes, I'm aware that it is promised to be temporary. I'm also aware of how the markets freaked out not long ago when Bernanke hinted that the Fed might consider exiting QE2 ahead of schedule if the economy continued to recover faster than expected. (This very innocuous statement was quickly retracted.)

It is therefore clear that the markets have no expectation that there will be an exit from the policy any time soon. And people that I've talked to on Wall St do not see a viable way to do it short of currency collapse.