QE is simply the mechanism for supplying liquidity demanded by the market (look at the velocity charts). The Fed is purchasing debt for sale in the market. They are not buying debt that wasn’t being issued anyway.
I would say that if, as you mention, the tax and regulatory environment were better, we wouldn’t need the QE to this extent. The QE has helped to partially offset the damage the tax and regulatory environment.
You don’t really think MBS purchases by the FED are a good idea? I get the velocity issue, but we’d be better off had the bad banks gone under, bad loans been resolved via the marketplace, and both bankers and borrowers borne the cost.
Instead the thrifty and prudent are punished and the guilty rewarded. We need a good and strong and transparent lending regime. We don’t have that and we’re not going to get there via QE. It’s methamphetamines for a lethargic economy made exhausted by the previous doses of speed. Debt has to clear and trust has to be restored. QE isn’t restoring trust and neither is Obama & Co.