This paper analyzes the cause-and-effect relationships between the Fed’s balance sheet and consumer prices, and between the federal government debt and the Fed’s balance sheet during the period 2008Q1to 2021Q4. Although contemporaneous Fed purchases of public and private sector debt and...

The recent surge in consumer prices beginning in 2021 has been attributed by government officials to supply chain disruptions, war in Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic, and corporate greed. Between 2008Q4 and 2021Q1 the consumer price index (CPI) increased 32 percent from about 211 to 280....

This paper examines the effect of changes in Federal Reserve assets and consumer prices during the stewardship of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Since his appointment in February 2018 until July 2022, the average monthly increase in consumer prices was 0.31 percent—more than 2.4 times...