Do any of you think about the possibility of near term hyperinflation? Do you think it likelym?

@stanleybmanly ”...looking at the absurd behavior of the stock market.”

The stock market is a leading indicator, it is indicative of future performance of the economy. All indications are that the economy will recover at a very strong pace over the next 24 months, as things begin to open up again.

Hyperinflation is not a fear for me; reckless activity without getting the virus truly under control is a real fear.

I would like a little inflation to happen.

I’ve been waiting for a stock market or real estate correction, but it doesn’t seem to be coming. From what I understand Biden was giving people who are late on mortgage payments more time, I don’t know if that passed.

It’s unbelievable how tight the real estate market is in so many cities. There has been low supply and high demand. All these people moving around. I do wonder how many are second homes/investments.

As people get vaccinated I think there will be more spending at retail not less, but it will be interesting to see.

I wish I knew what was going to happen.

Hyperinflation doesn’t happen overnight. Cases like Venezuela and Argentina are the result of years of corruption and mismanagement. This is not to say that the US government shouldn’t reduce its deficit at some point, but that point is not during a global pandemic.

No, and no.

As @JLeslie says we could use some additional inflation for economic growth. We have been living in a fantasyland since 2010 with low interest everything. The pendulum has to swing back some time.

As for hyper inflation? Not at all. The Fed has the tools to deal with things now. They didn’t really during the Nixon years.

I agree that some inflation is natural and necessary. But the current cap on interest rates makes money in the bank a strategy for suckers. Rather than the stock market as a predictor for future growth, it is actually an indicator that there is a lack of alternatives to park your money just as are the galloping escalation in the price of real estate. People are no longer saving, or investing and debt is accumulating at a terrifying rate. Gone are the days of the stock market as indicator of economic well being. You might just as well gauge our economic viability on the sales of lottery tickets.

Yes I am. We keep hearing that there is no inflation but everything is getting more expensive. Food, rent utilities, all going up yet we don’t see it in the inflation numbers. Creative accounting I guess. We’ve been losing manufacturing jobs for decades so all we have left is the service industry and with the pandemic and the lockdowns we’re killing that. The stock market is rising simply because there is no other place to put money with interest rates so low. We’re heading for a fall and I’m not sure what course that fall will take. Maybe hyperinflation, maybe a depression, maybe both. Once it starts, stopping it will be painful. You can’t just print more money without consequences. Other countries have tried and it never ends well. Luckily, when it happens, there will be no shortage of people to blame.

I do and have been since the change in office, to be quite frank. Many Republicans are holding onto savings and cash, fearing all the free money is a bad portent, as we see unemployment skyrocketing again and as @Jaxk said, those of us who pay attention, see the prices rising already. But I’m sure there’s a war waiting to happen that could help.

A rise in inflation seems likely but not hyperinflation.