Yes, I know; there are flaws in this video but still… C’mon, is Bernanke printing money or not? In 2002, he said yes. In 2009, he said yes. Now he says no? My take: it’s a lot easier to tell a story if you stick to it. And it’s also nice if it’s an easy story to tell – which this isn’t.
Watch Jon Stewart’s take. It’s pretty funny.
P.S. Judging from this video, Bernanke’s lost the PR war as well as the interest rate war. Clearly, QE is not effective policy.
But if you still want the wonkish explanation of QE2, see Randy Wray’s "QE2 is Equivalent to Issuing Treasury Bills" and the comments that follow.
Also see: US treasury stockpiles billions in flawed $100 bills