国际英语新闻：U.S. Fed's new relaxed monetary policy triggers controversy

The QE2 has triggered global debate and many economists believe that the policy's effectiveness is uncertain.

Bernanke's supporters argue that it is within the Fed's responsibility to push the economic growth and there is no other tools in the Fed's tool box.

The central bank cut the interest rate to the current level in December 2008 to tackle the worst recession after the Great Depression in the 1930s. And it has already bought about 1.7 trillion dollars in U.S. government debt and mortgage-linked bonds.

Bernanke's bold action to gamble on the QE2 policy has drawn not only critics outside the central bank, but also aroused inner opponents.

Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig, who is concerned the Fed's easy money policies are prelude to yet another boom and bust cycle, said on Oct. 25 that further easing would be "a bargain ... with the devil."

Some economists, and some Fed policymakers, also worry further purchases could jeopardize the central bank's credibility if the impact proves small. In addition, there are concerns the Fed's bloated balance sheet may set the stage for rampant inflation once the recovery gains traction.

Many economists doubt about the policy's effectiveness and worry about its spillover effect on the rest of the world.

"The Federal Reserve's proposed policy of quantitative easing is a dangerous gamble with only a small potential upside benefit and substantial risks of creating asset bubbles that could destabilize the global economy," Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein said an article published by the Financial Times on Wednesday.

"Although the U.S. economy is weak and the outlook uncertain, QE is not the right remedy," said the former president of the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research and former chief economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan.

The U.S. economy grew at a 2.0 percent annual rate in the third quarter 2010, slightly more than a 1.7 percent expansion in the second quarter.

Economists consider that economic growth must reach about three percent for some time to significantly reduce high unemployment.

But more than a year after the recession officially ended, unemployment stubbornly stands at high level.

Economists expect that October's jobless rate, which will be reported on Friday, will remain at 9.6 percent for the third straight month.