Inflation Indicators

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The two articles on inflation in the recently published newsletter received attention. They are:

Inflation: Does It Stay or Does It Disappear? 
S&P Global Ratings’ survey of rating analysts indicates that many U.S. corporate sectors are facing input price pressures this year, which are largely manageable through cost-saving measures, gains in productivity, or by passing them through to customers…
Based on “US-Inflation weiter auf dem Vormarsch“ Bericht in Finanz und Wirtschaft FuW vom 10.06.2021

Central Banks Balance Sheet Growth and Inflation
A look at the development of the balance sheet totals of the five most important central banks shows an enormous increase in balance sheet totals. In the course of the financial crisis, the central banks put huge amounts of money into circulation to stimulate the economy… 
Graph: Central bank balance sheets
Bericht in der NZZ (Login allenfalls nötig)

UPDATE JUNE 21, 2021
Swissinfo article: How much should we fear inflation?

Hopes are running high that the strengthening global economy could start to pull clear of the pandemic. But the promising news also comes with a potential health warning: inflation. How much is Switzerland at risk? All in all,
– Fears are “exaggerated”
– Central bank spending is a risk

Chancen und Risiken von digitalem Notenbankgeld

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Zentralbanken rund um den Globus arbeiten intensiv an der Umsetzung von elektronischem Notenbankgeld. 
Die Bank für Internationalen Zahlungsausgleich (BIZ) erstellte in Zusammenarbeit mit sieben Zentralbanken – darunter die SNB – einen gemeinsamen Bericht in Englisch zu digitalem Notenbankgeld (Central Bank Digital Currencies, CBDC)

„The Market“ aus der NZZ fasst das Wichtigste in Deutsch zusammen.

Do you prefer English? 
Central banks have been providing trusted money to the public for hundreds of years as part of their public policy objectives. Trusted money is a public good. It offers a common unit of account, store of value, and medium of exchange for the sale of goods and services, and settlement of financial transactions. Providing cash for public use is an important objective for central banks.

Commercially-provided, fast and convenient, digital payments have grown enormously in volume and diversity. To evolve and pursue their public policy objectives in a digital world, central banks are actively researching the pros and cons of offering a digital currency to the public (a “general purpose” central bank digital currency  – CBDC). Understanding CBDCs has advanced significantly in the last few years. Published research, policy  work, and proofs-of-concept from central banks have gone a long way towards establishing the potential benefits and risks.

Details in English by BIS Basel