# Has most of newly "printed" money going to the top kept us from experiencing large inflation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 30, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705 "2017-05-30T05:35:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/1 "2017-05-30T05:35:13Z")
The gov’t and fed have been injecting crazy amounts of printed money into the economy for the past decade or so, and many predicted that the deficit spending and quantitative easing would lead to terrible inflation. But it didn’t. So why not? Is it that the working class was only benefitted enough to keep afloat, and most of the new wealth went to the already wealthy? So injecting new currency never shifted the working class demand curve? What happened? Or am I completely wrong about my assumptions? ---
**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/2 "2017-05-30T12:47:09Z")
Most of it went idle. From the Federal Reserve: Monetary Base: [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE) Excess Reserves: [Excess Reserves of Depository Institutions (DISCONTINUED) (EXCSRESNS) | FRED | St. Louis Fed](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EXCSRESNS) The money isn’t being lent out by the banks, and so it isn’t making its way into general circulation. Weak demand and weakened balance sheets will do that. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/3 "2017-05-30T14:18:05Z")
Quite a bit has went into the stock market as well. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/4 "2017-05-30T14:41:37Z")
Printed money is the pocket change of the US economy. And it’s essentially meaningless if it never leaves the Fed. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/5 "2017-05-30T15:03:38Z")
I realize the OP specifically called out printed money, but perhaps is interested in general increases in money supply. If so, we might have a bit more to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![allotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@allotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allotrope)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/6 "2017-05-30T15:11:38Z")
> [@Caldazar](#): > > Most of it went idle. From the Federal Reserve: > > Monetary Base: [Monetary Base; Total (BOGMBASE) | FRED | St. Louis Fed](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE) > Excess Reserves: [Excess Reserves of Depository Institutions (DISCONTINUED) (EXCSRESNS) | FRED | St. Louis Fed](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EXCSRESNS) > > The money isn’t being lent out by the banks, and so it isn’t making its way into general circulation. Weak demand and weakened balance sheets will do that. +1. It will take another decade or so for the fed to sell all of the assets it currently owns but as it does, it will shrink the money supply. In the meantime, the supply will grow from other sources such as bank lending. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/7 "2017-05-30T15:16:46Z")
Well, he did put “printed” in quotes, so I figure he meant increasing the money supply. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-most-of-newly-printed-money-going-to-the-top-kept-us-from-experiencing-large-inflation/787705/8 "2017-05-31T00:09:32Z")
Yep. People forget that you need more than an increase in the money supply to cause inflation. You need “velocity.” There is NOT currently a case of too much money chasing too few goods.