The Fed's Latest Move, And What It Means

from National Public Radio

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday unveiled a new plan to pump more money into the economy, announcing it would buy $600 billion worth of long-term Treasury Bonds. The Fed's move was sufficiently dramatic that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke took to the op-ed page of The Washington Post to explain what the Fed did -- and why.

Economists call this "quantitative easing." Critics call it printing money. For more on how this is supposed to work, NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Laurence Meyer, a former governor of the Federal Reserve System.

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, November 4, 2010