A lot of people are very upset about the rapidly increasing U.S. national debt these days and they are demanding a solution. What they don't realize is that there simply is not a solution under the current U.S. financial system. It is now mathematically impossible for the U.S. government to pay off the U.S. national debt. You see, the truth is that the U.S. government now owes more dollars than actually exist. If the U.S. government went out today and took every single penny from every single American bank, business and taxpayer, they still would not be able to pay off the national debt. And if they did that, obviously American society would stop functioning because nobody would have any money to buy or sell anything.
And the U.S. government would still be massively in debt.
So why doesn't the U.S. government just fire up the printing presses and print a bunch of money to pay off the debt?
Well, for one very simple reason.
That is not the way our system works.
You see, for more dollars to enter the system, the U.S. government has to go into more debt.
The U.S. government does not issue U.S. currency - the Federal Reserve does.
The Federal Reserve is a private bank owned and operated for profit by a very powerful group of elite international bankers.
If you will pull a dollar bill out and take a look at it, you will notice that it says "Federal Reserve Note" at the top.
It belongs to the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. government cannot simply go out and create new money whenever it wants under our current system.
Instead, it must get it from the Federal Reserve.
So, when the U.S. government needs to borrow more money (which happens a lot these days) it goes over to the Federal Reserve and asks them for some more green pieces of paper called Federal Reserve Notes.
The Federal Reserve swaps these green pieces of paper for pink pieces of paper called U.S. Treasury bonds. The Federal Reserve either sells these U.S. Treasury bonds or they keep the bonds for themselves (which happens a lot these days).
So that is how the U.S. government gets more green pieces of paper called "U.S. dollars" to put into circulation. But by doing so, they get themselves into even more debt which they will owe even more interest on.
So every time the U.S. government does this, the national debt gets even bigger and the interest on that debt gets even bigger.
Are you starting to get the picture?
As you read this, the U.S. national debt is approximately 12 trillion dollars, although it is going up so rapidly that it is really hard to pin down an exact figure.
So how much money actually exists in the United States today?
Well, there are several ways to measure this.
The "M0" money supply is the total of all physical bills and currency, plus the money on hand in bank vaults and all of the deposits those banks have at reserve banks. As of mid-2009, the Federal Reserve said that this amount was about 908 billion dollars.
The "M1" money supply includes all of the currency in the "M0" money supply, along with all of the money held in checking accounts and other checkable accounts at banks, as well as all money contained in travelers' checks. According to the Federal Reserve, this totaled approximately 1.7 trillion dollars in December 2009, but not all of this money actually "exists" as we will see in a moment.
The "M2" money supply includes everything in the "M1" money supply plus most other savings accounts, money market accounts, retail money market mutual funds, and small denomination time deposits (certificates of deposit of under $100,000). According to the Federal Reserve, this totaled approximately 8.5 trillion dollars in December 2009, but once again, not all of this money actually "exists" as we will see in a moment.
The "M3" money supply includes everything in the "M2" money supply plus all other CDs (large time deposits and institutional money market mutual fund balances), deposits of eurodollars and repurchase agreements. The Federal Reserve does not keep track of M3 anymore, but according to ShadowStats.com it is currently somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 trillion dollars. But again, not all of this "money" actually "exists" either.
So why doesn't it exist?
It is because our financial system is based on something called fractional reserve banking.
When you go over to your local bank and deposit $100, they do not keep your $100 in the bank. Instead, they keep only a small fraction of your money there at the bank and they lend out the rest to someone else. Then, if that person deposits the money that was just borrowed at the same bank, that bank can loan out most of that money once again. In this way, the amount of "money" quickly gets multiplied. But in reality, only $100 actually exists. The system works because we do not all run down to the bank and demand all of our money at the same time.
According to the New York Federal Reserve Bank, fractional reserve banking can be explained this way....
"If the reserve requirement is 10%, for example, a bank that receives a $100 deposit may lend out $90 of that deposit. If the borrower then writes a check to someone who deposits the $90, the bank receiving that deposit can lend out $81. As the process continues, the banking system can expand the initial deposit of $100 into a maximum of $1,000 of money ($100+$90+81+$72.90+...=$1,000)."
So much of the "money" out there today is basically made up out of thin air.
In fact, most banks have no reserve requirements at all on savings deposits, CDs and certain kinds of money market accounts. Primarily, reserve requirements apply only to "transactions deposits" – essentially checking accounts.
The truth is that banks are freer today to dramatically "multiply" the amounts deposited with them than ever before. But all of this "multiplied" money is only on paper - it doesn't actually exist.
The point is that the broadest measures of the money supply (M2 and M3) vastly overstate how much "real money" actually exists in the system.
So if the U.S. government went out today and demanded every single dollar from all banks, businesses and individuals in the United States it would not be able to collect 14 trillion dollars (M3) or even 8.5 trillion dollars (M2) because those amounts are based on fractional reserve banking.
So the bottom line is this....
#1) If all money owned by all American banks, businesses and individuals was gathered up today and sent to the U.S. government, there would not be enough to pay off the U.S. national debt.
#2) The only way to create more money is to go into even more debt which makes the problem even worse.
You see, this is what the whole Federal Reserve System was designed to do. It was designed to slowly drain the massive wealth of the American people and transfer it to the elite international bankers.
It is a game that is designed so that the U.S. government cannot win. As soon as they create more money by borrowing it, the U.S. government owes more than what was created because of interest.
If you owe more money than ever was created you can never pay it back.
That means perpetual debt for as long as the system exists.
It is a system designed to force the U.S. government into ever-increasing amounts of debt because there is no escape.
We could solve this problem by shutting down the Federal Reserve and restoring the power to issue U.S. currency to the U.S. Congress (which is what the U.S. Constitution calls for). But the politicians in Washington D.C. are not about to do that.
So unless you are willing to fundamentally change the current system, you might as well quit complaining about the U.S. national debt because it is now mathematically impossible to pay it off.
***UPDATE***
It has been suggested that the same dollar can be used to pay off debt over and over - this is theoretically true as long as the dollar remains in the system.
For example, if the U.S. government gives China a dollar to pay off a debt, there is a good chance that the U.S. government will be able to acquire that dollar again and use it to pay off another debt.
However, this is not true when debt is retired with the Federal Reserve. In that case, money is actually removed from the system. In fact, because of the "money multiplier", when debt is retired with the Federal Reserve it can remove ten times that amount of money (and actually more, but let's not get too technical) from the system.
You see, fractional reserve banking works both ways. When $100 is introduced into the system, it can theoretically create $1000 as the example in the article above demonstrates. However, when that $100 is removed, it can have the opposite impact.
And considering the fact that the Federal Reserve "purchased" the vast majority of new U.S. government debt last year, we have got a real mess on our hands.
Even if a way could be figured out how to pay off all the debt we owe to foreign nations (such as China, Japan, etc.) it would still be mathematically impossible to pay off the debt that we owe to the Federal Reserve which is exploding so fast that it is hard to even keep track of.
Of course we could repudiate that debt and shut down the Federal Reserve, but very few in Washington D.C. have any interest in doing that.
It has also been suggested that instead of just using dollars to pay off the U.S. national debt, we could use the assets of the U.S. government to pay it off.
That is rather extreme, but let us consider that for a moment.
That total value of all physical assets in the United States, both publicly and privately owned, is somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 to 50 trillion dollars. Of course the idea of the U.S. government "owning" every single asset of the American people is repugnant to our entire way of life, but let's assume that for a moment.
According to the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government, which is an official United States government report, the total liabilities of the United States government, including future social security and medicare payments that the U.S. government is already committed to pay out, now exceed 65 TRILLION dollars. This amount is more than the entire GDP of the whole world.
In fact, there are other authors who have written that the actual figure for the future liabilities of the U.S. government should be much higher, but let's be conservative and go with 65 trillion for now.
So, if the U.S. government took control of all physical assets in the United States and sold them off, it could not even make enough money to pay for everything that the U.S. government is already on the hook for.
Ouch.
If you have not read the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government, you really should. Actually the 2009 report should be available very soon if it isn't already. If anyone knows if it is available, please let us know.
The truth is that the U.S. government is in much bigger financial trouble than we have been led to believe.
For example, according to the report (which remember is an official U.S. government report) the real U.S. budget deficit for 2008 was not 455 billion dollars. It was actually 5.1 trillion dollars.
So why the difference?
The CBO's 455 billion figure is based on cash accounting, while the 5.1 trillion figure in the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government is based on GAAP accounting. GAAP accounting is what is used by all the major firms on Wall Street and it is regarded as a much more accurate reflection of financial reality.
So needless to say, the United States is in a financial mess of unprecedented magnitude.
So what should we do? Does anyone have any suggestions?
***UPDATE 2***
We have received a lot of great comments on this article. Trying to understand the U.S. financial system (even after studying it for years) can be very difficult at times. In fact, it can almost seem like playing 3 dimensional chess.
Several readers have correctly pointed out that when the U.S. money supply is expanded by the Federal Reserve, the interest that is to be paid on that new debt is not created.
So where does the money to pay that interest come from? Well, eventually the money supply has to be expanded some more. But that creates even more debt.
That brings us to the next point.
Several readers have insisted that the Federal Reserve is not privately owned and that since it returns "most" of the profits it makes to the U.S. government that we should not be concerned about the debt owed to it.
The truth is that what you have with the Federal Reserve is layers of ownership. The following was originally posted on the Federal Reserve's website....
"The twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which were established by Congress as the operating arms of the nation’s central banking system, are organized much like private corporations – possibly leading to some confusion about "ownership." For example, the Reserve Banks issue shares of stock to member banks. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the System. The stock may not be sold, traded, or pledged as security for a loan; dividends are, by law, 6 percent per year."
So Federal Reserve "stock" is owned by member banks. So who owns the member banks? Well, when you sift through additional layers of ownership, you will ultimately find that people like the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers and the Queen of England have very large ownership interests in the big banks. But there are so many layers of ownership that they are able to disguise themselves well.
You see, these people are not stupid. They did not become the richest people in the world by being morons. It was the banking elite of the world who designed the Federal Reserve and it is the banking elite of the world who benefit the most from the Federal Reserve today. In the article above when we described the Federal Reserve as "a private bank owned and operated for profit by a very powerful group of elite international bankers" we may have been oversimplifying things a bit, but it is the essence of what is going on.
In an excellent article that she did on the Federal Reserve, Ellen Brown described a number of the ways that the Federal Reserve makes money for those who own it....
The interest on bonds acquired with its newly-issued Federal Reserve Notes pays the Fed’s operating expenses plus a guaranteed 6% return to its banker shareholders. A mere 6% a year may not be considered a profit in the world of Wall Street high finance, but most businesses that manage to cover all their expenses and give their shareholders a guaranteed 6% return are considered "for profit" corporations.
In addition to this guaranteed 6%, the banks will now be getting interest from the taxpayers on their "reserves." The basic reserve requirement set by the Federal Reserve is 10%. The website of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York explains that as money is redeposited and relent throughout the banking system, this 10% held in "reserve" can be fanned into ten times that sum in loans; that is, $10,000 in reserves becomes $100,000 in loans. Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.8 puts the total "loans and leases in bank credit" as of September 24, 2008 at $7,049 billion. Ten percent of that is $700 billion. That means we the taxpayers will be paying interest to the banks on at least $700 billion annually – this so that the banks can retain the reserves to accumulate interest on ten times that sum in loans.
The banks earn these returns from the taxpayers for the privilege of having the banks’ interests protected by an all-powerful independent private central bank, even when those interests may be opposed to the taxpayers’ -- for example, when the banks use their special status as private money creators to fund speculative derivative schemes that threaten to collapse the U.S. economy. Among other special benefits, banks and other financial institutions (but not other corporations) can borrow at the low Fed funds rate of about 2%. They can then turn around and put this money into 30-year Treasury bonds at 4.5%, earning an immediate 2.5% from the taxpayers, just by virtue of their position as favored banks. A long list of banks (but not other corporations) is also now protected from the short selling that can crash the price of other stocks.
The reality is that there are a lot of ways that the Federal Reserve is a money-making tool. Yes, they do return "some" of their profits to the U.S. government each year. But the Federal Reserve is NOT a government agency and it DOES make profits.
So just how much money is made over there? The truth is that we have to rely on what the Federal Reserve tells us, because they have never been subjected to a comprehensive audit by the U.S. government.
Ever.
Right now there is legislation going through Congress that would change that, and the Federal Reserve is fighting it tooth and nail. They are warning that such an audit could cause a financial disaster.
What are they so afraid of?
Are they afraid that we might get to peek inside and see what they have been up to all these years?
If you are a history buff, then you probably know that debates about a "central bank" go all the way back to the Founding Fathers.
The European banking elite have always been determined to control our currency, and that is exactly what is happening today.
Ever since the Federal Reserve was created, there have been members of the U.S. Congress that have been trying to warn the American people about the insidious nature of this institution.
Just check out what the Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee had to say all the way back in the 1930s....
"Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders."
The Federal Reserve is not the solution and it never has been.
The Federal Reserve is the problem.
Any thoughts?
Since the Federal Reserve is not part of the US government would not we be free to issue and entirely new currency and let the Federal Reserve sink into the mire thus eliminating our national debts? After all if the debt is in dollars and the Federal Reserve bank backs the dollars but the US does not how do the people lose?
jim sadler: I cannot speak to your question on the federal level, but you can on a local level, sure. In fact, take a look at what the Village in NYC has been doing with their own form of local currency.
for those of you who are asking if it can be fixed the answer, mathmatically speaking, is pretty simple really http://www.perfecteconomy.com
There’s a simpler way to understand the reality here than looking at the technical specs of the FED: Examine the systematic outcomes of the financial structure. Just look at the GINI coefficient for the USA over the past 100 years or so. The GINI measures “wealth inequity.”
You will see that the rich are getting far richer at an accelerating rate, and the poor are getting far poorer also at an accelerating rate. Wealth is being vacuumed upwards at an alarming rate of increase. Since this movement of wealth is a byproduct of the financial system itself, you can easily conclude that the system must be “rigged.” Plumbers are not becoming lazier as hedge fund managers become more industrious, labor-wise. It is an effect of the rules of the system.
The rules in the broadest sense are set by the FED and the Treasury – which are now more or less one institution wholly owned by Wall Street. (Behind Wall Street then lies your Rothchilds and Rockefellers and such)
The GINI is the absolute best “big picture” tool you can use in understanding the structure and slant of the US economy.
Since the Federal Reserve board members have their hands in the US politicians pockets, and the US politicians are not interested in changing this situation (as they benefit financially), the way for this to end is by the US defaulting on their debt and then it won’t be advantageous for our politicians to use the Federal Reserve as our money lender.
I think this is what US Americans are avoiding feeling. They don’t want to see anything unsettle whatever savings they have in US banks. I just don’t see another way around than getting rid of the US dollars created by debt to the Federal Reserve.
As to how an individual can make any difference, is by ruining the effect that such a climax of events would have on them and their relations. Either with a basket of currency account or by turning cash into actual resources (and paying down all debts).
If it is safety and security you crave, then don’t trust US politicians for advice.
A few presidents have tried to dissolve the Federal Reserve. Does anyone know who they were and what happened to them?
I think most of them now understand that the US has the debt problem and the Fed is like the aching tooth.
It will be really helpful if you can make some videos and upload on youtube on how its mathematically impossible to pay off the US Debt.
As they say a 10mins youtube video is better then 1000 pages of blog.
American people….arise and awake…you don’t have much time on your hands….
Things are going to turn much worse as the days go by. And the government has already fired all the bullets. Only one is remaining…. to PRINT MORE MONEY.
Save your country, Americans…save your country….for God’s sake and for the world’s sake. And most importantly for your own sake!!!
There is a solution to central bankers, but it’s rather drastic.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/18/north-korean-executed-currency-reform
Pak Nam-gi killed by firing squad after currency reform worsened markets
The chief of the Central Bank in North Korea botched their reform…..and was executed by firing squad.
In the US, the failed and corrupt bankers go on speaking tours.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10878253/ns/business-financial_times/
Fed chief could command six-figure fee for speaking engagements
Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan “….could charge as much as $150,000 for a single U.S. appearance…”
To Jason (March 16th)
I understand that there has been three presidents who tried to stop the Federal Reserve. The last one was JFK. He had money printed up by the Treasury (according to the Constitution) A few months later he was dead and all the money was burned. The other presidents also ended up dead. There is a central bank in every major country (except Muslim countries) that control the money of the world. They have set it up for a world wide financial collapse to put them in control of the world. Many of the financial experts expect this to happen this summer. The purpose of the bailouts was NOT to “save” America, but to put us so far in debt to the Fed that they own us now — thanks to the politicians. There is no such thing as a “safe” bank. Your only hope of survival is in storing up supplies, investing in silver and gold and praying that God will lead you in the right direction. Good luck!
@Jason President Andrew Jackson did not renew the charter for the 2nd Central Bank of the United States. Yes, we have had 2 Central Banks before the Federal Reserve, both were closed and we can close the Federal Reserve. See Monetary dot org also see WebOfDebt dot com and TheMoneyMasters dot com
Clarification, it became mathematically impossible to pay it off a few years ago. Yet I see WALL STREET types want to say NOW instead of THEN.
This was a very interesting blog, helped me understand a lot more than what i knew beforehand. This is obviously an issue today that most people don’t know much about.
Hey. You may not be aware of this, but Australia is virtualiy on the cusp of a massive debt fueled property crash! The stats are as follows: 1200 Billion AUD$ of private debt mostly in mortgages and 158 billion AUD$ gov debt, all this for only a small population of 22 million people.
coins are not issued by the Fed – they are issued by the Gubmint – Dept of Treasury.
>>>Very interesting article! I’d love to read more about it and everything you wrote is true.
Why would we need money on this planet anyway?
We all should work for the benefit of the whole planet!
I will never understand that someone born on a planet has to EARN & PAY money to live on it. “Idiocracy” if You ask me
It’s not like you have a choice to go somewhere where money does not exsist.
It’s sad people, we have to wake up and start living completley different.
All people have the right to be happy all of their lives!<<<>>>What happens if the debt keeps increasing and eventually just goes so far out that whatever is done, it just cannot be repayed? So what happens to the US, the US government and the American folks?<<<<
Ever heard of a serfdom? We're already there.
It doesn't really matter what we do if we cannot protect our freedoms as human beings. People need to be SELF-educated and vigilant in spirit, as our forefathers had insisted. Then, once every state fails or secedes, we can hit the restart button.
But unless that happens, we're doomed to repeat the past. We'll become nothing more than a serfdom.
How about US taxpayers sale good part of US real estate. Let if China asks US to let 10 millions Chines to immigrate in USA in return of some write off? Or some other option. US bought Alaska from Russia, why does US can not sale Alaska to China for few trillions?
May be China can ask for more influence in US politics or let them buy businesses which employ enough Americans to have political clouts! Which may result into changes in law in Chines favor! Think, why does Israel get so many special goodies from US taxpayers?
Why not simply tax the profits of the Federal Reserve, oh, to the tune of 100%. I am sure that there are reasons that this won’t work as I am not as educated as most of the commentators on here, but it is just a thought.
Join those who are enlightening their friends and neighbors about the fact that the politicians take an oath to uphold the Constitution but ignore it. There is no authorization among the powers enumerated by the Founders in ARticle 1 Section 8 for the creation of a central bank, e.g. Federal REserve SYstem.
http://www.campaignforliberty.com 231115 and growing
http://www.YALiberty.org on over 170 campuses so far
we intend to replace politicians with those who will keep the oath, abolish the Fed, restore the gold standard to prevent the govt from inflating the currency ever again, repeal Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security which are taking America to insolvency and backruptcy.
Dead on and concise analysis of the bloated demon sucking upon the flesh of each and every person in the world that is ‘The Fed’.
These people are building the Apocalypse – it is slavery by other means, and worst of all, it is NOT WORKING.
Nice try, clowns – but you’re about to crash and burn, and take humanity with you in your vanity and avarice.
Looking at a point in time of US Dollars in physical existence + having to pay off all debt at once is a fallacious way of looking at this issue. Not to say that there isn’t a serious issue at hand–because there is.
First of all, eliminating all US debt should not be the goal. US debt (in the form of US Govt bonds) is an important investment vehicle to individuals and other governments and serves many other purposes that I won’t go into here.
The goal should be: to contain debt by covering the interest on debt plus managing the principle to a minor fraction of GDP.
One method for doing this is the following: The government were to cut expenditures such that they ran a surplus of total interest + $x and then applied that surplus to the interest and $x of principle each year… eventually we would hit the % of GDP target and be done.
BTW- all the money the government collects and then redistributes through medicare/medicaid/social security, etc. is NOT retired and therefore can be repaid to the government in a future period in the form of taxes. Only the interest and principle owed to the Fed is retired.
Make sense?
After reading this article (or whatever it technically is) I realized how little I knew, and how little the the public knows, about the banking and debt issue we’re currently in. And in my current state of new enlightenment, I’ve realized something.
From everything said in the article, and along with most everything that people said in the comments, I’ve realized one thing: all humans are capitalists at heart. We’re all competitors. Humans have a base instinctive need to compete with and surpass one another, create hierarchies to cement their positions above the weak, and ensure that no one can usurp their power.
This observation doesn’t directly relate to the money issue primarily, but if you break it down enough, this is what it is. Though probably complex and difficult, I do not doubt that there are ways to solve the current debt issue. However, the problem is, the people in charge (the wealthy and the politicians) don’t want to solve it. Because if we keep to this system, everything will eventually collapse, and they’ll hold all the power. The same goes for most banking systems in the world. It was flawed to begin with, but it was built to be that way.
Again, maybe I’m breaking this down too much, but I just see the whole thing as another way for people to obtain power and “rise” above the weak. It’s a basic human need to compete. And so far, money and finance is the most effective and deceptive means of accomplishing this.
As long as our overall economic output (GDP) is strong, we’ll have a – at the very least – a satisfactory economic outlook. If our capacity to repay the debt– even if we don’t actually repay it — ever drops significantly, then we’re in trouble.
In other words, there are no indications that the doomsday scenario some of you have in your head will ever play out.
we had a good run
The fact that the constitution states that only congress can print $ makes the fed and its charter a fraud. Meaning that the US Gov can legally walk away from any of the fraudulent dealings that have transpired.
Someone asked if this is all a joke.
Nope.
It is all for real.
The IVAMU can easily replace the doom and gloom of the Illegal Private Monoply on the production of money for use by the USA.
It is our time to repudiate this phony monopoly money system.
It is all a major con job, but the IVAMU? It is for real.
http://www.ivamu.com/
Actually you are wrong, you could pay off the debt to the zero amount. And it would only cost just 2 trillion to do so. And it is legal way to do it. An wouldn take along time to do. Talking here matter of days. Iam talking here for the u.s. gov to actually come up with 20 trillion dollars to pay the deby off. Yes the gov could have 200 trillion dollars but still couldnt actually pay the national debt off. Only because some off the the people holding the debt wouldnt want to sell it. This would actually take along time to do. Any way here is the so simple answer for the u.s. gov to come up with 20 trillion dollars to pay the debt off. All it needs is 2 trillion dollars. It could print this, make a loan from the social secerty bank. Or even put some gov items for collateral. Some air craft carriers, spaceshuttle, the gold in fortknox, anyway we will say the get 2 trillion dollars in there hands from all this through bank loans an the deal is almost done now. Once this money is in the gov hands. All that is needed now is to but this money into reserve banks. Then legally the banks now can loan out $20 trillion dollars. This is called fractional reserve banking. for every 1 dollar the bank has in it it can loan out 10. An now the banks federal resreve banks can now pay off the national debt 15 trillion dollars an still have money left over. An also with all this money injected into the world the economy would take off to the moon.
I think we reached the point of not being able to pay our debt back a while ago. It does not matter the FEd has a solution, monetize the debt and print money to buy it. That doesn’t work either.
People look at the debt and don’t consider the total unfunded obligations which have been estimated to be 75 to 100 trillion or more. There is no way we can grow our economy to pay those debts and sooner or later the day of reckoning is approaching.
This goes to something I’ve been wondering about: It is not just the government that prints money. Every time a credit card gets issued we are adding to the money supply. And this goes on without the government regulating how much credit the credit card companies issue. Consumers spend “dollars” but they were not issued by the government or the Federal Reserve, credit card companies issued them, or banks.