Considering Yellen has basically stated (and has a history of doing), she would rather do too much and deal with inflation rather than not do enough.
So my take away is that we'll see inflation above 3% in the next two years.
So my take away is that we'll see inflation above 3% in the next two years.
That's the problem facing Yellen: not just doing enough, but doing something that won't just end up inflating the kinds of assets owned by the wealthy. Consumer prices have been stable because despite the increase in money supply, consumers as a whole were treading water (at best) even before the pandemic.
She would be happy to do something that caused CPI to get above 3%. It would mean the Fed could finally take the punch bowl away. They've been refilling it for well north of a decade, and it drains as fast as they fill.
It isn’t just stocks. Our inflation measures make a mockery of including households’ largest expense - housing.
https://www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheets/medical-care.htm
Of course, these are averages. If something catastrophic happens to you, it can easily consume your entire budget.
I think the overall 8.8% figure is probably reasonably accurate for total health care costs, on average.