A decade on: What's the verdict of America's era of easy money?

It's up for debate if benefits of bond buying outweighed costs

Last week marked a decade since the advent of post-crisis unconventional monetary policy: The Federal Reserve announced its first round of large-scale bond buying on Nov. 25, 2008.

Those initial purchases were followed by two more rounds, paired with years of market hand-holding and near-zero rates. Ten years and one long US expansion later, economists are asking how well the innovations in monetary policy worked.

Research suggests a mixed record. On one hand, economists credit mass bond-buying campaigns and promises of lower-for-longer with helping to supplement rock-bottom rates to stave off a global Great Depression 2.0. On the other, that recovery proceeded