The US money supply just blew past another milestone and hardly anyone is blinking. According to fresh Federal Reserve data, M2 jumped 4.5% year over year in June, reaching an all time high of $22.02 trillion. That marks the twentieth month in a row of expansion and the largest single month surge since July 2022.
It is not just a big number. It is a trajectory. The money supply is now rapidly converging with its long term average growth rate of 6.3% from 2000 through 2025. Even after adjusting for inflation, real M2 increased 1.8% last month. This is not just accounting noise. Actual liquidity is pouring back into the system.
To put this in perspective, M2 stood at just $8.46 trillion at the end of the 2008 financial crisis. That is a 160% increase over 17 years. In dollar terms, the purchasing power of the greenback has been deteriorating at a steady clip.
That decline in value is the quiet engine behind the rise in asset prices. Stock market at record highs? Bitcoin pushing past $74,000? Gold holding above $2,450 per ounce? These are not speculative manias. They are monetary effects.
The cost of living tells the real story. Rent, insurance, groceries, utilities, and healthcare are all higher in 2025 than they were a year ago. CPI may be drifting below 3.3% but the real world is running hotter than the models suggest.
The narrative is that inflation is cooling but the mechanics are screaming stimulus. Wall Street is already pricing in three full rate cuts by the end of next year. Traders are betting that the new Fed regime will prioritize liquidity and growth over price stability.
That has consequences. More money chasing the same goods means weaker dollars and stronger hard assets. It is not theory. It is supply and demand.
There is a reason central banks around the world are buying gold at record pace. There is a reason bitcoin refuses to die. There is a reason real estate continues to command eye watering premiums even in high rate environments. Too much money is sloshing around with too few productive places to go.
The message is simple. Inflate the money supply and you will devalue the currency. Every time. Quietly or loudly, that is the game now playing out in full view.