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We did get tremendous asset inflation. QE is arguably one of the greatest drivers of wealth inequality. If the QE was done to fund social security payments (i.e

We did get tremendous asset inflation. QE is arguably one of the greatest drivers of wealth inequality. If the QE was done to fund social security payments (i.e. a broad check to every American instead of asset inflation mostly benefitting the wealthy), we would see real inflation materialize. That is basically what is happening now, and commodities have already been putting up 30%+ inflation numbers. It's only a matter of time before the contract for the beef in your Big Mac (which was negotiated years ago) is renegotiated in the current inflated commodity market.

throw0101a 5y ago
> We did get tremendous asset inflation. I wish people would stop using "inflation" in conjunction with "asset". It just causes confusion in what inflation actually means, and there's already a term for what you are referring to: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble > QE is arguably one of the greatest drivers of wealth inequality. If the QE was done to fund social security payments That is the job of legislators, not central banks. In the US the Federal Reserve isn't a fairy godmother or genie that can solve all of society's ills. They did what they could and were allowed to make sure the system works. Where was Congress? > That is basically what is happening now, and commodities have already been putting up 30%+ inflation numbers. The price of copper tripled between December 2008 and February 2011: * https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCOPPUSDM https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCOPPUSDM And it led to… precisely nothing. A sluggish recovery which took too long because of a lacklustre stimulus because of the deficit hawks. These rise in numbers were predicted months ago: > So what’s going to happen in the months ahead? We’ll probably see a number of transitory price increases, not just because the economy is booming, but also because the lingering effects of the pandemic have produced some unusual disruptions — for example, a global shortage of shipping containers. * https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/opinion/us-inflation-stimulus.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/opinion/us-inflation-stim... * https://archive.is/Vxj5h https://archive.is/Vxj5h
- lend000 5y ago
  > there's already a term for what you are referring to A bubble suggests the inherent overvaluation in a natural market cycle. Inflation is used intentionally to differentiate that the price is higher because money was artificially injected, so the normal rules for identifying market exuberance (assuming you had perfect information) are distorted. > That is the job of legislators, not central banks. The central banks buy whatever debt the legislators need to be financed, in the real world. During the pandemic, that meant buying insanely expensive (low interest) treasuries to finance stimulus checks, as well as direct economic injections. > The price of copper tripled between December 2008 and February 2011: That's one commodity. Indexes exist so that we may prevent this misleading thinking. Law of large numbers, etc. As I posted a few weeks ago, random length lumber futures are up 200% since the pandemic began. Copper and soybean futures are both up 60%. Industrial steel is up 133%. Industrial silicon is up 70%. Sunflower oil +114%. Wheat +20%. Platinum +29%. Gold +20%. Aluminum +32%. Energy futures +30%. Natural gas +42%. The real estate market is in a frenzy. SPX is up 25%, despite almost certainly taking a productivity hit as a whole. Shortages due to shutdowns are a factor, but all the same, if there's a shortage of everything and an excess of cash, what do you get? (...Inflation).

throw0101a 5y ago

> We did get tremendous asset inflation. I wish people would stop using "inflation" in conjunction with "asset". It just causes confusion in what inflation actually means, and there's already a term for what you are referring to: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble > QE is arguably one of the greatest drivers of wealth inequality. If the QE was done to fund social security payments That is the job of legislators, not central banks. In the US the Federal Reserve isn't a fairy godmother or genie that can solve all of society's ills. They did what they could and were allowed to make sure the system works. Where was Congress? > That is basically what is happening now, and commodities have already been putting up 30%+ inflation numbers. The price of copper tripled between December 2008 and February 2011: * https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCOPPUSDM https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCOPPUSDM And it led to… precisely nothing. A sluggish recovery which took too long because of a lacklustre stimulus because of the deficit hawks. These rise in numbers were predicted months ago: > So what’s going to happen in the months ahead? We’ll probably see a number of transitory price increases, not just because the economy is booming, but also because the lingering effects of the pandemic have produced some unusual disruptions — for example, a global shortage of shipping containers. * https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/opinion/us-inflation-stimulus.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/opinion/us-inflation-stim... * https://archive.is/Vxj5h https://archive.is/Vxj5h

lend000 5y ago
> there's already a term for what you are referring to A bubble suggests the inherent overvaluation in a natural market cycle. Inflation is used intentionally to differentiate that the price is higher because money was artificially injected, so the normal rules for identifying market exuberance (assuming you had perfect information) are distorted. > That is the job of legislators, not central banks. The central banks buy whatever debt the legislators need to be financed, in the real world. During the pandemic, that meant buying insanely expensive (low interest) treasuries to finance stimulus checks, as well as direct economic injections. > The price of copper tripled between December 2008 and February 2011: That's one commodity. Indexes exist so that we may prevent this misleading thinking. Law of large numbers, etc. As I posted a few weeks ago, random length lumber futures are up 200% since the pandemic began. Copper and soybean futures are both up 60%. Industrial steel is up 133%. Industrial silicon is up 70%. Sunflower oil +114%. Wheat +20%. Platinum +29%. Gold +20%. Aluminum +32%. Energy futures +30%. Natural gas +42%. The real estate market is in a frenzy. SPX is up 25%, despite almost certainly taking a productivity hit as a whole. Shortages due to shutdowns are a factor, but all the same, if there's a shortage of everything and an excess of cash, what do you get? (...Inflation).