Bernanke launches QE1, expanding the Fed balance sheet beyond $1 trillion

On November 25, 2008, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke announced the first quantitative easing program, committing to purchase $600 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities and debt. With the federal funds rate already near zero following the Lehman Brothers collapse, QE1 represented an unprecedented expansion of the Fed's tools beyond traditional interest rate policy. By March 2009, the Fed's securities portfolio reached $1.75 trillion; the balance sheet ultimately grew from under $900 billion to $4.5 trillion by 2015.