In yet another attempt to revive the anemic economy, Ben Bernanke announced last month that the US Federal Reserve would try another round (the third) of quantitative easing (QE). This time the bank would buy, on a monthly basis, $40 billion a month of agency mortgage-backed securities and also continue with an extremely low-rates policy until well in 2015.

Under different circumstances, the central bank would have tried the more common approach of lowering short-term market rates - that is to say, buying short-term government bonds. This strategy was not expected to work this time, however, because short-term interest rates are hovering around zero. So instead, the Federal Reserve turned to buying financial assets from commercial banks, hoping to thereby lower long-term interest rates and stimulate the economy.

There's a good chance that QE3 can actually have negative consequences for the economy and for you. Lower interest rates can lead to a reduction in your income and therefore in your spending power, if you're a senior living on your savings and/or pension. And if the central bank overestimates the amount of easing and creates an excessive amount of money, QE3 could also lead to higher inflation. The result: most of us would have to work harder to maintain our current lifestyle, or even a less prosperous one.