Rising prices today trace back to decades of money printing, not people suddenly getting bad with money — bad news for anyone struggling with the cost of living.

• The money supply has been growing fast since the 2008 financial crash, when the Fed started printing money to prop up the economy.
• Pandemic-era spending was so large it dwarfs even that 2008 surge, pushing prices higher across the board.
• The real root goes back to 1971, when the dollar was taken off the gold standard, removing the limit on how much money could be printed.
• Steadily printing more money acts like a hidden tax, quietly making everything more expensive instead of raising taxes directly, which would spark public backlash.

Outlook: Expect the cost of living to keep climbing as long as the money supply keeps expanding faster than the economy grows.