That's the whole discussion around money itself, isn't it. As soon as you do something other than exchange an apple for a goat (and even then, really), you're p

That's the whole discussion around money itself, isn't it. As soon as you do something other than exchange an apple for a goat (and even then, really), you're potentially creating money in one person's eye and not in the others. While I understand your point about the money not existing, if you're making it happen in the system you're putting something of yourself in the system to convert to money. In governments' case it is their "reputation" and ability to operate in the world, as shown with the Greece situation in the recent past. Ultimately it just wasn't in bills but it was indeed paid in the government's loss of abilities (as well as the price to the population) and made money in other places where it was due. And that exactly what governments do when they deal with currency: any adjustment isn't creating energy out of nothingness, it's just that the layers of our system make it pretty hard to figure just where the debt is paid and it ultimately ends up being paid by those least able to see it coming & to avoid it. Not to hammer the point again, but those people tend to be again on the end of the spectrum that has "poorer" written on it.