What does $500B in QE Buy?

As soon as the Fed announced it's coming November gift people started pricing in $500 billion in QE. This has meant a drop in the dollar as well as massive increases in commodity prices that's probably worth a lot more than $500 billion or even a trillion. Since the announcement I have not seen this kind of a frenzy on some commodities since 2007 when trying to catch a bid on some days.

This has also exacerbated currency tensions with China, Japan, and Korea as these economies work to keep their currencies low to preserve export driven growth.

Is the rise in commodities and the fall of the dollar worth more than $500B or are we just robbing Peter to pay Paul? The math of the increased import prices and decreased dollar buying power is a drag on the economy however, it's difficult to estimate the increase in rise of "animal spirits" we get from this kind of a decision.

At the end of the day, with 95% of the dollars buying power vanishing since the creation of the Federal Reserve it's hard to be dismissive of folks who want to examine new ways of managing the dollar and monetary policy. Many of the long term policy fixes we need like reducing spending and revamping our energy policy are functions of our political branch yet everyone pushes the Fed to act to "fix things". Be careful what you wish for.

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What does $500B in QE Buy?