O Inflating Wastage

Power Line - Memphis Blues Again: "They have (probably correctly) deduced that Democratic re-election prospects in 2012-14 are tied to the unemployment rate and the price of houses, and they will do anything to move those numbers, regardless of future damage. (Besides, a roaring inflation later is just another crisis that cannot be allowed to go to waste! Wage and price controls are lovely avenues for centralized power.)

It's little different than FDR in 1934-35 observing that businesses were sitting on cash instead of hiring people (because of the insane regulatory environment, among other things), and determining to pry that cash out of them. In those days he took the blatant approach -- the undistributed profits tax of 1936. Nowadays a more subtle approach is called for: in this case, inflation, which is essentially a massive tax on savings and retained profits.

It probably doesn't hurt that in addition the one party that does well in a strongly inflationary environment is he who owes loads of money (the debt is rapidly eroded by inflation) and who has an income that is fully indexed to inflation, meaning it automatically rises in lockstep with nominal prices and wages. That of course describes state and federal governments today."

Beauteous, ain't it? He loves it when a good plan comes together at your expense.