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Quantitative easing (QE) is a tactic used by central banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States, to increase the money supply and stimulate growth when the more usual tactic of lowering the interest rate charged to banks is not possible. QE has been applied by several national economies in the twenty-first century, including Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with mixed results. It is notoriously difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies such as QE, and some criticize it as government interference in the private market and also as a process that may also produce higher prices and inflation.