As the fifth anniversary of the launch of the US Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program approaches, a report on the International Business Times begged the question of whether the economic stimulus did help the US in general. The report pointed out an analysis conducted by Credit Writedowns, a financial and economic news blog which indicated that only those who had enough money to hold on to their stock was able to benefit from the program. Everybody else, the report said, was not fortunate.
Data showed that S&P500 index's returns, which also included dividends, increased 144% since 2008. This means that savers who hold on to their assets like retirees were affected by the near-zero interest rates, essentially destroying returns. Although inflation was low historically in the last five years, the meager returns cash had provided outpaced returns from savings or from holding on to assets. This, in effect, said the report, eroded the buying power of fixed income investors.
Moreover, people relied on house price appreciation or a wage increase and had no savings nor significant stock investments. Although the housing recovery in the US had helped people who have managed to keep their homes, prices of homes had risen less than 5% in the last five years, according to the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
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