Money Printing

While the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) physically prints currency, the figurative term “printing money” is associated with Federal Reserve’s ability to create and destroy money. The Fed creates money electronically through balance sheet expansion. If the Fed wishes to create money it purchases bonds from member banks through open market operations (FOMC). This simultaneously creates a liability in the form of bank reserves, and a corresponding asset, the bonds it purchased. The goals of “printing money” include increasing liquidity (increase loanable funds) in the financial system, decreasing interest rates, increasing the value of risk assets, and devaluing the dollar.