Since one of the ways in which quantitative easing worked was through the policy duration effect, it is difficult to clearly isolate the effects of quantitative expansion itself in assessing the overall effect of the policy.
However, most subsequent empirical studies suggest that although quantitative easing contributed to stabilizing the financial system, the impact on economic activity and prices was limited.17 Moreover, preliminary assessment indicates that the extent to which the decline in interest rates resulting from the policy duration effect of the quantitative easing policy affected the yields of other financial assets – the so-called “portfolio rebalancing effect” – was limited.