[nl]

Hasn't the US government been printing vast amount of money over the last 3-4 years, with little appreciable increase in inflation?

Keyesians argue that money supply doesn't cause inflation on its own. Probably worth looking into that, since the predictions it provides seems to match reality pretty closely..

[brg]

One reason for the current benign inflation may be that there is no alternative currency with which to trade for US derived goods. Neither the rmb, euro, ruble nor even Canadian dollar are valid mediums of exchange within the US.

Meanwhile hyper-inflation in Russia in the 90's used the dollar as a stable currency with which rubles were exchanged for dollars. Hyper-inflation in Poland, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria occurred in part due to easily exchange and convertibility of the Deutschmark.