Quantitative easing isn't really about printing money—it's fundamentally about extending the duration of assets on central bank balance sheets. At least that's how Musalem frames it. Right now, though, bill purchases are moving at a pretty aggressive clip, and the holding periods are remarkably short-term. This distinction matters more than you'd think. When authorities are buying short-dated instruments, the transmission mechanism looks different from classic QE scenarios. It reshapes how liquidity flows through the system. For traders watching macro signals, this nuance separates the signal from the noise. Duration management versus outright easing—two different games entirely.