In order to normalize monetary policy, the Fed stopped quantitative easing (QE), which was being used to stimulate the economy. Monetary policymakers will resist the belief that concluding the bond-buying program was a tightening of policy even though real interest rates rose at the suggestion that QE has a short half-life. The new normal for economic growth is low short-term rates while inflation expectations have decreased. With the end of the QE era, the yield curve flattened, equities started moving sideways, and the dollar rose as did GDP and employment.