Just as two previous rounds of quantitative easing failed to accelerate US households’ balance-sheet repair, there is little reason to believe that “QE3” will do the trick. Quantitative easing is a blunt instrument, at best, and operates through highly circuitous – and thus dubious – channels.
前两轮量化宽松都没有加速美国家庭资产负债表的修复速度，因此，没有理由相信“QE3”会奏效。说得再好，量化宽松充其量也只是个钝器，其传递渠道迂回曲折，而且颇可质疑。特别是，对于负债过度和储蓄不足这一孪生问题，它根本没有疗效。直接以债务豁免和强化储蓄激励为目标的政策——平心而论，这样说可能会引起争议——至少能够修正僵尸消费者的一部分资产负债表问题。