is m2 a leading economic indicator 
m2 is seen as a reliable predictor of inflation so it might be counted among the leading economic indicators m3 is considered by some economists to be an even better predictor of inflation this is published quarterly rather than monthly and includes data on large liquid assets held by financial institutions the bottom linethe federal reserve isn t keeping track of how much cash you ve got in your wallet but it has a pretty good idea of how much cash we as a population have at any given time the important point isn t the number but how the number is increasing or decreasing from month to month too much cash is seen as a warning sign of a growing threat of inflation 