A major aspect of QE is creating artificial demand for USTs (the Fed becomes a buyer), i.e. price support in the wake of the GFC. That is intimately related to

A major aspect of QE is creating artificial demand for USTs (the Fed becomes a buyer), i.e. price support in the wake of the GFC. That is intimately related to the USD as global reserve currency, which is not something there is much historical precedent for. In the past, reserve currencies died for many compounding reasons. QE is a novel scheme to prolong the USD's life as a reserve currency, and is only possible due to modern financial technology. It's definitely not sustainable and can only prolong the inevitable crash in demand for USTs as faith in Washington continues to wane globally. Kicking the can down the road.