Why? Because we're in a global economic depression. Because the government cannot print money anymore. Because anymore printing will most likely induce hyperinf

Why? Because we're in a global economic depression. Because the government cannot print money anymore. Because anymore printing will most likely induce hyperinflation. This is common Internet Wisdom, but there's no reason to believe it's actually true. The TIPS spread--the spread between ordinary government bonds and inflation-protected bonds--is very low. Under 2%. The TIPS spread also tends to overestimate inflation, because the long-tail risk of inflation is higher than that of deflation. The Fed is dominated by inflation hawks with substantial political will to fight inflation and very little to implement monetary expansion. Very few economists seem to expect the risk of hyperinflation. This kind of inflationary alarmism is infectious. It's infected our politics, skewing the GOP primaries towards severe economic ignorance. Nominal GDP is still limp. Inflation is still low. Unemployment is still high. Borrowing is still tight. The recovery is stalling. Stop. Please.