INFLATION: $10,000,000,000 in Cash

As Leon Henderson tussled with rebellious prices last week (see above), one thing that can nullify all his efforts got bigger than ever: money in the hands of the public ("in circulation") reached a record $9,899,000,000, 22% above a year ago, more than double 1929. Moreover, the big demand for cash over the Labor Day holiday was sure to push it over the $10,000,000,000 mark.

After toying with the idea for years, Federal Reserve Board officials last week started a why-is-it probe to try to find the reason for this unexplained growth of cash in use. Meanwhile, private bankers made...