In the middle of last week, the Federal Reserve announced that it will end quantitative easing, a bond-buying program the central bank implemented during the financial crisis to boost the housing market and overall economy.
Over the past few years, the policy has generated considerable controversy. Early on, prominent analysts and commentators claimed that it would trigger hyperinflation akin to Germany between the world wars -- which obviously didn't happen. And more recently, policymakers have begun to question whether it accomplished anything at all.
In this week's financials-themed episode of Where the Money Is, The Motley Fool's Alison Southwick interviews senior banking specialist John Maxfield about the costs and benefits of the unusual monetary program. Check out the following video to see what they have to say about it, as well as about two other top news stories from the past week.
