Why qe 2

Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance.

Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. US Economy Monetary Policy. By Kimberly Amadeo. Learn about our editorial policies. Fact checked by Hans Jasperson. Hans Jasperson has over a decade of experience in public policy research, with an emphasis on workforce development, education, and economic justice. His research has been shared with members of the U. Congress, federal agencies, and policymakers in several states.

Pros Kept interest rates low to encourage lending. Cons QE2 wasn't enough to encourage banks to lend. Banks used the extra credit to write off bad debts. The original engines were steam turbines until a major refit in updated her accommodation and converted her to diesel electric power with nine oil-fired engines driving two giant electric motors each of 59, shaft horse power giving her a top speed of 34 knots.

Her maiden voyage in December was cut short by turbine trouble and she completed her full maiden voyage in May , travelling between Southampton and New York. Before her retirement in , the QE2 had travelled more than 6,, miles and carried more than 2,, passengers. She was at that time the only liner regularly making the transatlantic crossing to New York for about eight months of the year, carrying out other holiday cruises and special charters for the remainder.

More than 30, people lined the streets of Clydebank on 20 September as the Queen and Prince Philip made their way to the launch at John Brown's shipyard. The ship was known to the yard as No and to the Cunard as Q4. It was not until the Queen spoke that people discovered what the new liner was to be called. She named the ship "Queen Elizabeth the Second" but that caused Cunard a headache as she was the first Elizabeth to rule over Scotland. In order not to upset the nation that built her, they changed the name to QE2, using the Arabic numeral "2" instead of the Roman "II" the Queen uses.

Peter Kemp, who was a year-old apprentice at the time, told BBC Scotland: "The Queen announced the name and then there was a long pause. Mr Kemp says: "The chains were rattling and the dust was flying about and everything.

It was an amazing sight. Shipyard history expert and author Ian Johnston says: "It is such a definitive moment when a ship takes to the sea for the very first time, to see this mass of steel sliding into the river, right here on the Clyde and all the noises and atmospherics that go with it, the clouds of dust that are thrown up, just the sheer bulk of something of the scale of the QE2 going into the river.

Despite the liner's rise to fame, its early days were dogged by teething problems. Soon after being launched, its engines were beset with problems. Further hitches meant its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in January had to be cancelled and it did not make the journey until four months later. Mr Johnston said early headlines such as "ship of shame" were harsh and there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the liner, as it went on to prove over the next four decades.

The historian says: "She became a favourite with cruising people all over the world. Her reputation was well-earned. She was an unusual and stylish ship, very handsome and with the best of British design. QE2 refers to the second round of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program that sought to stimulate the U. Treasuries and the reinvestment of proceeds from prior mortgage-backed security purchases. Quantitative easing stimulates an economy through a central bank's purchase of government bonds or other financial assets.

This type of monetary policy increases the money supply and typically raises the risk of inflation. Quantitative easing is not specific to the U. QE2 came at a time when the U. While equity markets had recovered from lows, unemployment remained high at 9.

At the time of the announcement, U. Interest rates initially rose after the announcement, with the year yield trading above 3. However, from February , three months after the announcement, the year yield began a two-year year decline, falling basis points to trade under 1.

QE2 was relatively well received, with most economists noting that while asset prices were propped up, the health of the banking sector was still a relative unknown. It was less than two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and with confidence still low, it was prudent to promote investment through cheaper money. The policy was not without its critics. Some economists noted that previous easing measures had lowered rates but did relatively little to increase lending.

With the Fed buying securities with money that it had essentially created out of thin air, many also believed it would leave the economy vulnerable to out-of-control inflation once the economy fully recovered. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.