If it weren't that cheap to print them greenbacks...

This chart compares US GDP growth vs. the CPI vs. M3 growth from 1980 to 2005. Note the difference between CPI (red line) and GDP growth (yellow line). M3 is the blue line. According to the unwritten rules of the German Bundesbank, the best keeper of price stability in the world, I prefer M3 over inflation figures as it gives you a better idea how much money is actually sloshing around in relation to the goods and services produced.

As I am still fiddling around with editing graphics for this blog, here the absolute figures (data source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis):

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose from 2.725 to 12.182 trillion dollars or 347 percent.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose from 78 (100=1983) to 191.3 or 245 percent.
• Money supply M3 rose from 1.823 to 9.494 trillion dollars or 423 percent.

Note: M3 consists of currency in circulation plus overnight deposits, deposits with agreed maturity up to 2 years, deposits redeemable up to 3 months' notice, repurchase agreements, money market funds and papers plus debt securities issued up to 2 years.