Money printer, then brakes

M2 is the broadest standard measure of money: cash, checking and savings deposits, and small money-market balances. For decades it grew steadily, usually 5–10% a year.

In 2020 it exploded. The Fed bought trillions of dollars of bonds, and federal relief payments landed in bank accounts. By March 2021, M2 was up 28.3% from a year earlier, the fastest growth since the series began in 1959. Inflation followed in 2021 and 2022, though economists still debate how much of it the money growth caused.

Then it reversed. With the Fed raising rates and shrinking its balance sheet, M2 fell year-over-year starting in December 2022, the first declines since at least 1960. The lowest point was −4.6% in April 2023.

Growth has since returned to normal. M2 is $23.2 trillion as of July 2026, up 5.4% from a year earlier and above its 2022 peak.