Current inflation has nothing to do with the FedWith the most anticipated FOMC announcement in a long time coming tomorrow I'm throwing out my prediction: the Fed will be surprisingly patient with their tapering. This chart shows a few reasons why:
1. M2 growth does not have anywhere close to the same effect as it did on inflation in 1970.
From the 3 decades 1970-2000 the CPI Growth/M2 growth was in the range of 0.65-0.75. Something happened in the next decade that broke this ratio down where it has been declining ever since - QE. Quantitative easing allowed the Fed to flood bank reserves into the system to protect from a liquidity crisis. This is what people refer to as "printing money" but in reality it that money is not being injected into the real economy. Banks reserves need to get loaned out and circulated in the economy to have an effect on inflation and this appetite for loans is not something their QE controls. Lower rates may have a limited affect but the majority comes from aggregate demand factors that are difficult to control.
The second chart shows the first derivate of CPI/M2 over a 12 month period. Comparing the levels in the 1970s to our current period should make it clear we are not seeing even close to the same effects on CPI that we did then. We are still in an era more similar to 2010-2020 than 1970-1980 and the Fed doesn't even need to stop purchases to see the growth rate slow.
2. The dollar has not has barely been effected and already looks to have bottomed.
The last chart shows how drastically the dollar index plunged in the two CPI spikes of the 1970s. This preluded the actual CPI numbers which is intuitive - the dollar plunging takes time to actually reach the consumer. This current cycle we haven't seen anything close to that. The dollar has held steady and is relatively unchanged since 2014. The dollar is not seeing a massive decline relative to other currencies like we did in the 1970s.
3. Supply issues have clearly had an effect on CPI
It's not a surprise that Covid severely damaged the worlds supply chains. Pretty much every earnings call from a company that is exposed to the global supply chain mentions this. The New York Fed has a gauge here if you want to see for yourself. Luckily, it seems to be peaking but we are not sure of that yet.
In summary, the inflation numbers we've seen are likely not being caused by monetary policy and the Fed knows this. Supply pressures look like they are starting to ease but we are not out of the woods. A drastic measure by the Fed may not even work to stop the inflation if my my assumptions are correct and it would induce a much more damaging stagflation. I predict the Fed is extremely cautious with their moves and we will not see anything drastic in tomorrows statement.
