Table of Contents

1. How Money is Created "Out of Nothing"

The Reserve Bank (or any central bank) doesn't just print physical cash to create money. Most modern money is digital.

* Open Market Purchases:

When the Reserve Bank wants to increase the money supply, it buys government bonds or other financial assets from commercial banks.

* The Ledger Entry: To pay for these bonds, the Reserve Bank doesn't use existing money. It simply types a new number into the commercial bank's exchange settlement account (the “bank's bank account”).

* Result: The commercial bank now has more “reserves” (money), which it can then lend out to businesses and individuals. This is the moment “new” money enters the system.

2. How Money "Magically Disappears"

To reduce the money in circulation (usually to fight inflation), the Reserve Bank reverses the process.

* Open Market Sales: The Reserve Bank sells government bonds back to the commercial banks.

* The Deletion: To pay for these bonds, the commercial banks must transfer money to the Reserve Bank. When the Reserve Bank receives this money, it doesn't put it in a safe or spend it. It deletes the digital record from its ledger.

* Result: That money effectively ceases to exist. With fewer reserves, commercial banks have less to lend, which slows down spending across the economy.

Same thing summerized

The Reserve Bank (Central Bank) operates a system where money is not “found,” but rather entered into or deleted from existence.

1. Money Creation (Increasing Circulation)

When the Reserve Bank wants to stimulate the economy, it performs a “purchase” from commercial banks.

2. Money Destruction (Reducing Circulation)

When inflation is to high, the Reserve Bank must make money disappear.

Action Technical Term Outcome
Creation Quantitative Easing Money is typed into existence
Destruction Quantitative Tightening Money is deleted from the ledger

3. The Power of Information

Most people do no that the money supply is flexible. The “value” of money depends on the public's trust that the Bank will no how to balance this creation and destruction. If ther is to much created, the value drops; if ther is to little, the economy stalls.

Note: This power is a form of economic “sovereignty” where the rules of scarcity apply to the citizens, but not to the issuer of the currency.

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