Last month, news.Bitcoin.com examined the problem of quantitative easing (QE) and its impact on the U.S., and how such policies have spread to the rest of the world. This month, we continue to drill down on the phenomenon of governments printing trillions of dollars worth of fiat currency simply by pressing buttons on their computers. Value has been stolen from average people, flowing upward to the extremely rich. Now two of the world’s most important economies, Europe and Japan, appear to be considering a break from a policy habit that has proven to be particularly addictive for politicians and banks.
Also read: Tired of Bank Bailouts and Hyperinflation? Bitcoin Offers Something Different
Europe to Break the QE Habit
According to the European Central Bank (ECB), “Monthly net purchases of public and private sector securities currently amount to €30 billion on average. On June 14, 2018, the Governing Council stated that it ‘anticipates that, after September 2018, subject to incoming data confirming the Governing Council’s medium-term inflation outlook, the monthly pace of the net asset purchases will be reduced to €15 billion until the end of December 2018 and that net purchases will then end.’”
The carnage wreaked by such influxes of capital are numerous. After following the Americans to Southwest Asia, bouncing rubble throughout two decades of war, the resulting wave of migrants seeking relief ended up at Europe’s own doorstep. Such policies have pushed real estate valuations to unprecedented levels, and the continent’s inhabitants seem more dependent upon government largess than ever before. If the previous century is any guide, economic frailty combined with social upheaval does not usually end well in Europe.
The ECB continues to detail the massive amounts of public wealth that are
