THE ERA OF TRUMP

[Martin Hash]

BTW every dollar of The Debt is printed money.

[pineapplemike]

Was quantitative easing essentially printing money? A quick Google search of "quantitative easing printing money" (ironically) gives me a CNBC link titled "Why Quantitative Easing Isn't Printing Money," but the article soon devolves into asking "what is money?," at which point I lost interest and figured they're playing word games

Now, some people will argue that reserves are money. But let me explain why I don't think reserves are money.

What is money? Money has three functions: a medium of exchange, a store of value and a unit of account. Bank reserves are a store of value; they may be a unit of account; but they are definitely not a medium of exchange.

Only financial institutions can hold reserves at the central bank. You can't go into a store and buy a loaf of bread with bank reserves, as you can with, say, a dollar bill or a checking account at a your local bank. Reserves just sit there. Although they do earn interest, that doesn't mean they are money.

https://www.cnbc.com/id/100760150

[Martin Hash]

On the topic of printing money:

Assume there are 2 bakers who sell a loaf of bread for $1, and only 1 customer. Now give the customer $million; how much does a loaf of bread cost?

[pineapplemike]

I would first need to know the political affiliation and sexual orientation of the two bakers

[Martin Hash]

I use QE as an example of “printing money” all the time. Especially the Off Balance Sheet stuff that’s never paid back.

Saying that two numbers in a computer don’t add to zero doesn’t negate the fact that money entered the marketplace out of thin air.

[Martin Hash]

As a counter-example:

Assume there is one baker who sells a loaf of bread for $1, and 2 starving men. Now give 1 man $million, and the other $million+1; how much does a loaf of bread cost?

[SuburbanFarmer]

1 million jobs lost. Everything’s cool.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09- ... an-extreme

[ssu]

Was quantitative easing essentially printing money?

Technically perhaps not, but in reality yes.

And btw, when the Federal Reserve buys US debt (basically in T-bonds) that's also in reality money printing.

(Now of course Trump and the Fed are on a collision course as the Feds wants to jack up the rates and Trump obviously doesn't.)

there’s nothing wrong with printing money as long as Market Forces remain in place.

Yep, until you have a crisis of faith. Until then it's fine and dandy.

[Martin Hash]

there’s nothing wrong with printing money as long as Market Forces remain in place.

Yep, until you have a crisis of faith. Until then it's fine and dandy.

Faith is belief without proof. As long as the fundamental equation, production = consumption, is true, the amount of money in the economy is immaterial, especially if it’s highly concentrated like it is now; a bunch of billionaires don’t eat any more bread than the peons.

[Martin Hash]

The problem occurs when the billionaires decide they want to own everything. Money is supposed to represent assets, but in reality there is no real connection so the artificial nature of money can be exploited. America has assets of $100 trillion; what’s to stop 1000 hundred-billionaires from buying every single thing in the U.S.? Without redistribution of wealth, that’s a real threat.