Stocks Profile

A look at some problems and limitations of quantitative easing.

Readers Question: I was wondering if anyone could help me with how Quantitative easing can possibly reduce a budget deficit? and what are the downsides of quantitative easing?

The Bank of England has pursued a policy of quantitative easing. This has involved creating £275bn money and using this created money to buy assets such as government bonds. The aim is:

1. To reduce interest rates on government and corporate bonds.

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I’ve written numerous times about chip-and-PIN credit cards, but mostly about how it’s frustrating that the technology has been adopted in Europe and Asia, but not in the United States. It makes international travel frustrating.

Some U.S. issuers started making chip-and-PIN cards this year, but they were small and exclusive banks such as the United Nations Federal Credit Union. Well, today I’m a happy girl because, Chase rolled out a chip-and-PIN card on Nov. 21!

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Christmas shoppers who are planning to use their credit cards to purchase the bulk of their festive gifts will not benefit from the recent cut to interest rates.

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Traveling to other countries can be expensive and the last thing travelers need to worry about are excess credit card fees being levied on all international credit card charges. While most credit cards still charge their customers international transaction fees on all purchases processed outside the United States, a growing number of banks are dropping this nuisance fee in response to customer demands.

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