Final answer:
The Federal Reserve resorted to quantitative easing when traditional open market operations couldn't combat the 2008 recession due to near-zero interest rates.
Step-by-step explanation:
When open market operations were insufficient to alleviate the recession in 2008 due to near-zero interest rates, the Federal Reserve implemented an innovative and nontraditional policy known as quantitative easing (QE).
Quantitative easing is the central bank's purchase of long-term government and private mortgage-backed securities to increase the money supply and stimulate aggregate demand by making credit more available. This policy was a response to the limitations of traditional monetary tools and was designed to put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, thereby supporting economic activity and job creation.
Quantitative easing (QE) is the more innovative and nontraditional policy that the Federal Reserve used when open market operations couldn't pull the struggling economy out of recession in 2008 because the interest rate was already near-zero. QE involves the purchase of long-term government and private mortgage-backed securities by central banks to make credit available and stimulate aggregate demand. It is different from traditional monetary policy because it focuses on lowering long-term interest rates rather than short-term rates.