>Why don't rich countries like the US, Switzerland or Japan not print money to cover their spending? Printing money is equivalent to a tax on all US dollar hol

>Why don't rich countries like the US, Switzerland or Japan not print money to cover their spending? Printing money is equivalent to a tax on all US dollar holdings. The value of the printed money is subtracted from everyone else's holdings by inflation. Doing this excessively, e.g. to fund the entire public sector, would cause an inflationary spiral, as everyone tries to get rid of their rapidly-devaluing dollars as quickly as possible.