What is QE3?

Many market watchers and economists are expecting the Federal Reserve on Thursday to announce a third round of “quantitative easing,” or QE3, to boost the sagging U.S. economy. This would be a third round of bond purchases by the Fed in an effort to ease long-term interest rates and spur borrowing and spending. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyo., several weeks ago defended the Fed’s bond purchases and highlighted the nation’s poor jobs situation, so much so that many economists expect the Fed to announce the move after its two-day meeting ends.