The Federal Reserve’s policy of “long-term asset purchases,” also known as “quantitative easing,” has intentionally kept long-term rates low. The Fed is buying Treasury bonds and long-term mortgage-backed securities at a rate of $85 billion a month, equivalent to an annual rate of $1,020 billion.
眼下的不可持续低长期利率并没有什么神秘原因。美联储通过“长期资产购买”政策，即“量化宽松”，有意地将利率维持在低水平。美联储以每月850亿美元的节奏买入美国国债和长期按揭支持证券，即每年购买10200亿美元。如此规模甚至超过了政府赤字，它意味着私人市场不再需要购买任何新发政府债务。