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Fig. 1: The Feds inflationary record - Consumer Price Index averages 1875- 2003
Introduction:
Oh the irony! For being the greatest inflator in the Feds recent 1959-2022 history, Mr Bernanke has now been awarded the Nobel Prize for economics! [For more on that travesty see 3 article links at the bottom of this blog entry.]
Anyway, way back in the mists of time [2013] I wrote a post here that examined the inflationary records of all of the Chairmen of the Federal Reserve system from 1959 through to 2013:
This new entry is an update to that post, and covers the chairmanships of Bernanke [2006-'14] Yellen [2014-'18], and Powell.[2018-'22]
N.B.: Please understand that this article is in no way to be considered as a defence of Bernanke, Yellen or Powell, nor of the Federal Reserve system itself.
So lets leave the Bernanke record till last, and start with his immediate successor. Janet Yellen:
Fed Chair Janet Yellen- The Great Deflator?
Fig. 2: Federal Reserve Monetary Base under Yellen 2014-2018 [log. scale]
[N.B. Monetary Base, M1 and M2 + All other graphs are indexed here ]
The above Fed graph reveals only an approximate 3% increase in monetary base over the 4 years of Yellen's tenure. Which means that, while technically speaking it is incorrect to call her the "the greatest deflator", [the base money supply still slightly increased 2014-18], nevertheless, no one in the history of the Feds recent history [1959- 2022], comes anywhere close to such a deflationary policy as Ms Yellen!
[ See here.]
Fed Chair Jerome Powell [2018- '22] - The Greatest Inflator?
Fig. 3 Federal Reserve Monetary Base under J. Powell - 2018- 0822 [log scale]
Mr Powell has been labelled an irresponsible "inflator" by various persons in the financial analysis and investment analysis communities, when, if you study his record to date, [see Monetary Base graph above], you can easily see that in the 4 years of his chairmanship to date [with 4 more to go],he has "only" increased the monetary base by around 50% when viewed from the beginning of his term [2018] to the last update of the Feds own monetary base figures [August 2022], 4 years later, which means that his own inflationary policies to date pale in comparison to those of some of his predecessors [ eg Greenspan and Bernanke]
Ben Bernanke- Still The "Greatest" Inflator!
And so finally, we arrive at the monetary inflation record of Fed. chairman/ Nobel Prize winner Ben Bernanke:
Fig. 4: Federal Reserve Monetary Base under Bernanke 2006-2014 [log scale]
With an approximate 300% increase in monetary base over 8 years, Mr Bernanke still reigns supreme as the "greatest" inflator of the Feds monetary base to date [from 1959 -2022], outstripping the previous record holder, Alan Greenspan, who "only" managed a 275% increase - shame on him! [ For the Greenspan record see: "Mr. Ben Bernanke: The "Great[est]" Inflator" ?: https://onebornfreesfinancialsafetyreports.blogspot.com/2013/07/mr-ben-bernanke-greatest-inflator.html
Conclusions:
As you can see, contrary to the general consensus, the inflationary policies of both Powell and Yellen are almost nothing when compared to those of both Greenspan [see here: https://onebornfreesfinancialsafetyreports.blogspot.com/2013/07/mr-ben-bernanke-greatest-inflator.html for a short review of Greenspan's 8 year tenure ], and Bernanke, and in fact, taken together, both can be considered as downright deflationary and "conservative" by comparison to either !
Important Questions For You, Dear Reader:
As I see it the questions are:
[1] Is the current inflation only a direct result of the feds recent policies of the last few years under Powell, or is it more likely due to the combined massive inflations of Greenspan and Bernanke? , or is it the result of all of their policies combined [Greenspan, Bernanke, Powell]?
[2] Or have the consecutive, somewhat "conservative" inflationary policies of both Yellen and Powell been "conservative" enough to partially offset the flagrant inflations of both Greenspan and Bernanke, and will they then offset a hyperinflation and perhaps cause a deflation?
[3] Or, on the other hand, must inflation continue to increase in severity due to the prior wildly inflationary policies of the Fed, as many predict?
[4] THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR YOU, DEAR READER:
Assuming that either more Inflation, or deflation is somewhere out there in the future, how can the individual saver ensure that they are equally protected from either possibility?
[See: :How To Safely Profit In Stocks,Gold,Crypto's etc., Despite An Unknown & Unknowable Economic Future ]
Notes:
Links to articles covering Bernankes recent Nobel Prize in economics award:
"Ben Bernanke's Nobel Prize: The Committee Rewards an Arsonist for Claiming to Fight the Fire He Started":
“Giving Ben Bernanke the Nobel Prize in Economics may be the drunkest decision of all time.”:
"Ben Bernanke Winning The Nobel Prize In Economics Is A Sick Joke":
Graphs index here
"If it were possible to calculate the future structure of the market, the future would not be uncertain. There would be neither entrepreneurial loss nor profit. What people expect from the economists is beyond the power of any mortal man." Ludwig Von Mises
More Von Mises quotes here
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