The money supply in Canada and the United States is substantially increasing, leading some to believe higher inflation will inevitably follow. The Bank of Canada tripled its balance sheet between early March and end of April 2020 as federal responses to the pandemic created large deficits. This increased the money supply of cash and chequing deposits  by 30 percent, an amount much higher than the typical 7 percent annual increase of recent years. Conventional economics suggests inflation must follow, according to Philip Cross, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. “We were all brought up to believe in that Milton Friedman quote that ‘Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.’ So when the money supply is increasing that fast, you sit up and take notice,” Cross said in an interview. “The money supply is increasing sharply in both Canada and the U.S. So those people who still believe in the quantity …