The Federal Reserve’s post-financial crisis policies have led a number of pundits to predict hyperinflation for the United States (see for example Is U.S. Hyperinflation Imminent?, Gold Videocast: Peter Schiff Answers Your FAQs, Central Bank Policy Will Create Inflation, warns Allan Meltzer, 2014-Crisis in Dollar Will Trigger Inflation-John Williams). They believe that the monetization of large government deficits is bound to cause prices to rise precipitously as the money supply grows larger and larger, if not today then soon (Is the Fed Monetizing Government Debt?). To many people, this seems like sound, conventional wisdom. Well, the latest CPI figures were released today and guess what? Prices actually fell in August (BLS Consumer Price Index Summary). In fact, since the start of the recession in December 2007, annual rates of growth of CPI have been 3.8%, -0.32%, 1.6%, 3.1%, 2.07%, and 1.5%–the lowest of any six-year period since 1967! How can this be? It’s simple:Forbes — Pragmatic Economist
Where's The Hyperinflation That Pundits Are Predicting?
John T. Harvey | Professor of Economics, Texas Christian University
