It's a combination of things. Tax cuts juicing an already hot economy, economic stimulus attempting to minimize the effect of a temporary pandemic, former executive fighting against interest rate increases. However this is a very US centric view.
It's also important to remember inflation is a global phenomenon. US policy might have outsized effect, but it is certainly not the whole story. Global gas prices hit decade-long highs last year, after massive lows during the pandemic. We had to somewhat jumpstart the global economy, and recover from slowdowns during that time as well.
It was the billions in PPP loans that lots of people used fraudulently, including our own politicians. On top of that, it was decided they didnt need to be paid back, so people go to keep all the fancy cars, electronics and real estate they bought with it.
Legitimate question, I’m not very economically literate.
We went through wars in the past without crazy inflation, gulf war, Iraq, Afghanistan. Is it because of all the Ukraine aid we’re sending? If so, why is this different than other conflicts?
Disease, disaster, war all cause significant inflation because they harm or destroy both things and productivity in the real world without destroying money.
If factories shut down and supply chains are disrupted and we only make half as many cars this year, how much would people be willing to pay for those cars? Much more.
Relief checks are a drop in the ocean compared to the pure, unadulterated fraud that was the PPP program and how much of that was forgiven.
I personally know companies that got 5-10 million dollars by lying about how many they employed. Any whistleblower programs out there with a reward for reporting them?
