"Many have argued that asset purchases, which are also known as quantitative easing, are long past their expiration date, as financial markets have ballooned during the pandemic despite the economic impact of COVID, which continues to ripple through supply chains and labor markets.

" 'The idea behind those asset purchases was to keep credit markets functioning and to ensure the flow of credit to consumers and businesses,' said Tom Kozlik, head of strategy and credit at HilltopSecurities. 'It succeeded in that, but it succeeded at that about a year and five months ago. It does kind of beg the question of why exactly you're still buying $120 billion dollars a month in bonds.' "