The money supply grew by 37.08% year-on-year in November based on the True Money Supply Measure (TMS). It was effectively the same rate of growth we saw in October and remains near September’s all-time high rate of growth.
The staggering growth in the money supply becomes more clear when you compare this year with last. TMS growth in November 2019 was just 5.9%.
The money supply continues to grow at a torrid rate.
Based on the “true” or Rothbard-Salerno money supply measure (TMS), the money supply grew by 37.08% year-on-year in October. That was down just slightly from September’s record rate of 37.54%.
The money supply growth rate surged to an all-time high in April as the Federal Reserve created cash at an unprecedented rate through quantitative easing and other money-creating monetary policies.
According to Ryan McMaken at the Mises Institute, the only time the Fed has come close to this level of money creation was in the 1970s – the era of stagflation.
Years ago, markets used to pay a lot of attention to the money supply and trade deficits. Now, these numbers barely get a passing mention. In his latest podcast, Peter Schiff said he thinks what is old will become new again and trade deficits and money printing will once again come front and center.
A 1980s era Far Side cartoon featured a veterinary student named Doreen studying equine medicine in Chapter 9 of her textbook. On the left-hand side of the page was a list of horse ailments. They included things like a broken leg, infected eye, runny nose, and a fever to name just a few. On the right-hand side of the page, the treatment for each ailment was “Shoot.” The caption read, “Like most veterinarian students, Doreen breezed through Chapter 9.”
Ben Bernanke, Milton Friedman and the Ivy League economics departments that all regurgitate the same theory on the Great Depression pretty much treat the economy as simple-mindedly as Doreen’s textbook treated equine medicine.
