Bloomberg Surveillance · Friday, September 11, 2026
David Kelly attributes the 2022 inflation primarily to stimulus checks provided to individuals, arguing that this injected demand for goods that were not readily available, thus pushing up prices. He contends that this policy response, especially after the economy began rebounding, was a mistake and a primary driver of inflation, not the Fed's bond-buying activities.
“I mean, let's be honest about what caused the inflation in 2022. It was all those checks given to people who live paycheck to paycheck. You give them another paycheck, they will go out and buy stuff that isn't on the shelves, and that pushes up prices. That's what caused the inflation. You do not want to go back down that road again.”
“But the primary sin was on the federal government putting too much stimulus in online. After it was obvious that the economy was rebounding. Now, I don't blame them for the first set of stimulus checks. Who knew what was going to happen? But after that, there should not have been any subsequent stimulus checks because the economy was clearly rebounding and it was clearly going to fuel inflation.”