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The growth in money supply that already happens is on this order of magnitude per capita. Most of this money creation is, as we know, by the commercial banks s
by inopinatus 9y ago
The growth in money supply that already happens is on this order of magnitude per capita. Most of this money creation is, as we know, by the commercial banks simply magicking it into being as loans. That's topped up by central bank activities.
This is offset by money being destroyed e.g. by repayment of loans (otherwise the money supply would simply explode in a catastrophic inflationary fountain), but overall, it's not impossible to imagine money being created directly into everyone's bank account instead.
Not claiming I can see how to get to that scenario from here, of course.
- crdoconnor 9y agoCommercial banks create money with private loans continuously but that money is also extinguished when those loans are paid back - which also happens continuously. When there is a lower demand for private debt - usually because people already feel overindebted - money creation is throttled. Politicians often balance the competing desires of their rich donors (who, however liberal, still want the money supply throttled to preserve their wealth) with that of the electorate (who want a healthy economy that can only be driven by spending) by stimulating the creation of ever more private debt. This isn't a sustainable compromise and the consequent systemic and societal risks of a huge overhang of unpayable private debts are pretty terrifying. Economic humiliation correlates strongly with a societal attraction to charismatic "strong man" leaders and, ultimately, fascism. I believe we're watching the beginning of this story and it's about to get a whole lot worse.