Inflation and Quantitative Easing

Econbrowser starts to worry about inflation. He posts the following chart of various commodity prices since the Fed announced its QE stance on March 18 and concludes: "But this is a trend the Fed needs to watch closely from here, and could prove to be a significant limiting factor on how much the Fed can hope to achieve from monetary stimulus. Because I for one do not think it's a good idea to call for a replay of the 2008:H1 commodity market show"


Interesting how Gold did not move compared to industrial metals.

Gold Standard and the Great Depression

Paul Krugman looks at the the role played by the gold standard during the great depression. He looks at the discount rates of various countries in the 20's and 30's and argues: "attempts to defend the gold standard led to perverse monetary policies at what was arguably a crucial moment." His more formal musings (via his blog) are here.

Brad DeLong from UCLA posts the following chart: