The Fed has more money on its balance sheet (8.9 trillion) then the total value of all 401ks in the United States (7.3 trillion as of 9/21).

by Jmeshareholder

5 trillion of that was added to the Fed’s balance sheet since Feb. 2020: fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WALCL

401k balances: www.ici.org/401k

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But oh ya, inflation is only happening because the ships and ports and all that jazz. Definitely not also because of the largest instance of debt monetization in the history of mankind.

This behavior jeopardizes the USD’s status as the reserve currency of the world.

Edit: Not saying that expanding the money supply is the only factor driving inflation. Supply chain issues, as we’ve been experiencing, increases inflation. Supply chain issues + expanding the money supply makes inflation even worse; it exacerbates inflation. I’m also not saying it was a bad thing for the Fed to respond as quickly and vigorously as they did. I do, however, think it was a mistake to add 2 trillion more to their balance sheet from August 2020 until now, amid increasing demand pressures and supply shortages. They kept adding to their balance sheet, expanding the money supply, even as the US made it through the eye of its economic storm.

I also chose 401ks as a reference point to compare against. 9 trillion is hard to conceive of. Thought that a unit of comparison would help. Other comparisons. US GDP = approx. 25 trillion. California GDP = approx. 3.5 trillion. Texas GDP = approx. 2 trillion. NY GDP = approx. 2 trillion. Florida GDP = approx. 1.2 trillion. GDP of UK = 3 trillion. GDP of Germany = 4 trillion. GDP of Mexico = 1 trillion. GDP of Canada = 1.6 trillion. Collective student loan debt in US = 1.5 trillion.