COVID-19 has brought the global economy to its knees and in response, the governments of the world have opened the money printing spigots. The U.S. FED for instance has bought roughly 3 TRILLION in assets this year (labeled  "Quantitative  Easing  4" on this chart).   Many fear that this much "money printing" will result in massive inflation or even hyperinflation. As you can see from the chart below, high inflation rates were the bane of the 1970s and early 1980s when the inflation rate rarely dipped below 4%. By contrast, the period beginning with the new millennium has rarely seen inflation go above 4%. Inflation in the 1970s caused much suffering and business disruption, … [Read more...]