[skybrian]

It doesn't, or at least not yet. Increasing the money supply might eventually cause inflation, but it's not a mechanical link and doesn't happen automatically. For example, the money might be paid back, and that decreases the money supply again.

Also, for inflation to happen, people will have to try to buy more stuff than what's available, and merchants will have to raise prices. Although we've seen shortages for a few things, that kind of overall spending is unlikely to happen until the recovery phase when people are feeling confident again.

Other than the staggering amounts, it's not really different from any other bank making a large loan.

[Consultant32452]

There's more to inflation than CPI. For example, the entire stock market is being inflated right now with these dollars. We should be experiencing deflation because many classes of assets should be crashing harder than they are. Keeping things steady when they should be deflating is still taking my money through inflationary forces.

[skybrian]

There aren't many people who benefit from a stock market crash, which is why the Fed is propping things up. I happen to have money to invest when the price is low enough, but that's unusual, and complaining about not having that opportunity (yet) would be "world's smallest violin" territory.

An opportunity cost is not a real cost. There are always missed opportunities.

[Consultant32452]

Stocks are not the only thing that would be falling rapidly. Real estate is another. What's happening here is that the Fed is making sure that the people who are rich and powerful stay rich and powerful. Otherwise, why not let average people get functionally infinite loans at zero interest? Why can a bank/corporation sell their depressed assets to the Fed at before crash prices but I can't? Every privilege given to incumbent wealth is a middle finger to the average worker.