> Is running a federal deficit and an increase in the money supply the same thing?
No. The money supply will naturally increase as the value of goods and services in the economy grows. (This creation is done by the banks loaning money against collateral, it's a rather complex subject.) If the money supply increases faster than that, we have inflation.
The way it increases faster than that is via the fiat money printing press.
Here's another way to look at it. The US had a net zero inflation from 1800-1914. Everything the current government blames as a cause of inflation happened all over that time period, but no net inflation. From 1914 on, we've had endemic inflation.
Any explanation of inflation has to account for that.
The creation of the Fed accounts for it. It was given the power to arbitrarily create money, and so they did, to fund the deficits. Every other country saw the magic of this, and switched to fiat money and inflation.
Is running a federal deficit and an increase in the money supply the same thing? Because my contention was with what Walter right actually said.