> Still waiting on that inflation.

You're waiting on CPI inflation.

The inflation that did actually happen was in equities, startup valuations, risk-adjusted debt (interest rates are far lower than the underlying risk would be without QE), fine art, yachts, healthcare, college tuition, etc. None of these are in the CPI because they aren't consumer staples.

That's just.. not what inflation is.

You're looking in the wrong place. QE doesn't go to families, so it doesn't increase the cost of milk, apples, or eggs. It went to the wealthiest banks and corporations, and wouldya look at that -- asset prices are inflated, "startups" have absurd valuations, and the wealth gap is larger than ever before.

The inflation is there, clear as day. You're just not looking in the right place and you think you're so smart because of it.

Your claim that Fed policy somehow doesn't have an impact on aggregate demand because it goes "to the wealthiest banks and corporations" is laughable for anyone with an elementary understanding of economics.

We're not seeing inflation because there would have been a huge AD collapse and deflation in the absence of Fed action.

THIS, so much this ... for years people said bottom-up stimulus plans would inevitably cause inflation. Injecting the money on top changes little, now it's just trickle-down inflation.

(and if this doesn't hold, I would love to understand why)

It doesn't hold because people get the money via loans at low interest rates and then spend more.

Fed policy has a clear impact on AD.

yep, also plenty of inflation to see at the grocery store. the 'family size' of cereal is actually the 'baby' size of a few years ago. that's how they can maintain the same price over time.

It's really easy to hand wave away all the inflation when you change the formula. They have so many "soft" factors they use and completely subjective ones that the reported inflation is in no way matched real world inflation. They only changed the way it was calculated because the national deficit was getting out of control. GDP is, simply, growth - inflation. If you can make inflation look lower you can make GDP look higher.

Look at asset prices not goods prices. It’s there.

The overwhelming majority of QE2020 has gone to the top (Fed purchasing assets.)