> Calculating seigniorage income in the age of electronic money is more complicated than it was in the Middle Ages, but the core concept is the same: it’s the p

> Calculating seigniorage income in the age of electronic money is more complicated than it was in the Middle Ages, but the core concept is the same: it’s the profits that derive from the monopoly on issuing currency. Printing a $100 bill – a decorative piece of paper that is worth $100 only because the American government says it is – costs just 14 cents. And every time the Fed sends one out of the door it can invest the remaining $99.86 in something which pays it interest. Printing money, at the risk of stating the obvious, gives central banks a licence to print money.