True nuff, but only for the past 6 months or so. It skyrocketed for about 1 and a half years. Historically speaking, we should have experienced massive CPI inflation by now but we didn't. I'm talking 20-30% annually. We experienced CPI deflation, largely due to (in my opinion) the money being held on to.
Think of it- the banks were permitted to hold their toxic garbage without marking it to market. So the value of that stuff held... even though it shouldn't have. In addition, GWB and Paulson gave them "bailouts" to cover their rear. How is it possible they were suddenly "profitable" the next month or two???
Easy- they held on to the $$$ and didn't devalue those toxic assets. Those things will have to mature sometime, and when they do they'll have to mark to market or write them off, which is why they are hoarding cash now.
