Everything bubble

[5] Modern monetary theory advocates the use of such tools, even in non-crisis periods, to create economic growth through asset price inflation.

[3][6] The everything bubble was not only notable for the simultaneous extremes in valuations recorded in a wide range of asset classes and the high level of speculation in the market,[7] but that its peak in 2021 occurred in a period of recession, high unemployment, trade wars, and political turmoil – leading to a realization that the bubble was a central bank creation,[3][8][9] with concerns on the independence and integrity of market pricing,[10][9][11] and on the Fed's impact on wealth inequality.

[12][13][14] In 2022, financial historian Edward Chancellor said "central banks' unsustainable policies have created an 'everything bubble', leaving the global economy with an inflation 'hangover'".

[17] The term first appeared in 2014, during the chair of Janet Yellen, and reflected her strategy of applying prolonged monetary looseness (e.g. the Yellen put of continual low-interest rates and direct quantitative easing), as a method of boosting near-term economic growth via asset price inflation (a part of modern monetary theory (MMT)[a]).

Investor Jeremy Grantham said, "All three of Powell's predecessors claimed that the asset prices they helped inflate in turn aided the economy through the wealth effect", before eventually collapsing.

[9] The Financial Times warned that the inequality from Powell's K-shaped recovery could lead to political and social instability, saying: "The majority of people are suffering, amid a Great Gatsby-style boom at the top".

[41] Bloomberg wrote that Powell, in the final year of his first term, was afraid to tighten in case of a repeat of the crash he caused in Q4 2018.

[54] In May 2022, financial historian Edward Chancellor told Fortune that "central banks' unsustainable policies have created an 'everything bubble', leaving the global economy with an inflation 'hangover'".