All good things must come to an end. And bad things, too, if you believe that the Federal Reserve Board’s bond buying program was a mistake. The minutes of its June 17-18 monetary policy committee meeting, published a few days ago, reveal that these purchases, largely credited with keeping long-term interest rates lower than they would otherwise have been, will come to an end in October. Fans of the protracted period of low interest rates say those rates helped bring the recession to an end by forcing up the prices of assets such as homes and shares, creating a “wealth effect” that encouraged consumers to spend. Better still, the low interest rates made it more attractive (cheaper) for businesses to invest in plant, software, and other assets, creating jobs not only for the workers directly involved, but for the butchers, bakers, and candle-stick makers whom they patronize. So say the Fed fans.

Wrong, say the Fed’s critics. If you could print your way to prosperity there would never by a recession. All the Fed’s $1 trillion bond-buying program has done is to store up future inflation as too much money chases too few goods, while creating “asset bubbles” as investors and savers, faced with zero interest rates on safe investments, hunt for yield by buying riskier assets that at least return something to savers and investors.