Inflation is not caused by price increases. It is caused by an increase in the money supply relative to the value it represents.
No, inflation is defined as the rate of increase of general prices in a particular market, however that market is bounded.
> It is caused by an increase in the money supply relative to the value it represents.
Because the markets for different goods and services are to a certain extent distinct, and because populations of different levels of wealth demand different goods and services, redistribution always causes increase in the supply of money chasing goods and services demanded by the group benefiting from the redistribution (and a decrease on the other side), at least in the short run (in the longer run, its effects on overall productivity, which depend on other details, will determine the effects.) As a result, you'd expect redistribution to cause some inflation in the market for goods and services demanded by the beneficiaries of the redistribution.
Currently, they expanded the money supply past demand to accommodate the 2008 crisis and now we are caught in a liquidity trap. If the Fed now wants to stimulate the economy by lowering the interest rate though expanding the money supply they can't, because the interest rate is at the lower bound of 0%. They need to now use less effective and unconventional methods to affect the economy.
The more powerful tool for dealing with economic issues is fiscal policy, which is the domain of Congress, not the Fed. But Congress has largely failed to act, or acted counterproductively, for many years, and left the Fed and monetary policy to handle things that need Congress and fiscal policy to address. So, yes, the Fed's pretty much exhausted its tools, because its been forced to deal with a problem exclusively through monetary policy that should have been addressed through fiscal policy.
History is full of examples. When Spain extracted gold and silver from the Americas in vast quantities, there was inflation in the Old World. Gold rushes corresponded with inflation. The American revolutionary Continental was printed in great quantities, and became worthless. Inflation results every time there's an increase in the money supply relative to the value in the economy.
Higher prices are the result, not the cause.
Milton Friedman's idea that it's only ever caused by an increase in the money supply needs to die already. It's always been wrong.
That is the economic definition of inflation.
Redefining inflation is a common acting of politicians et. al who want to obscure what they are doing to the economy.
No it isn't. From Wikipedia:
"In economics, inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation reflects a reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money – a loss of real value in the medium of exchange and unit of account within the economy."