I have only a layman's understanding of financial markets, so keep that in mind. The explanation I've heard is that most of the QE in the 2010's was metered ou

I have only a layman's understanding of financial markets, so keep that in mind. The explanation I've heard is that most of the QE in the 2010's was metered out in such a way that the average person wasn't receiving funds and the money wasn't quickly and directly going into the economy. The post 2008 QE purchased troubled assets and freed up institutions to lend money. It could be said that most of that QE money wound up in stocks and assets such as real estate, which is why valuations were going so crazy over the last decade while consumer goods stayed relatively flat. All of the Covid stimulus, loans, and bailouts were different because so much more of that money went directly into the consumer economy. Price increases were exacerbated because of supply chain disruptions, needing to recoup losses from lock-downs, and the price hikes due to raw materials shortages. There is also a self-fulfilling prophecy that inflation is both higher than reported, and that our officials are lying to us about how bad the problem is. When everyone else is raising prices, it is a lot easier for a business to follow suit. That's the explanation I've gathered while trying to understand the question and it seems reasonable to me. It may be entirely wrong, however.