Another way to raise the funds for federal budget deficits is to create new money (the popular term is print money) for the government to spend. While a growing economy requires a larger volume of money in circulation (called the “money supply” by economists), it is dangerous to increase the money supply too quickly. The inevitable result of such a policy would be severe inflation, as the excessive amount of money in circulation forces prices up rapidly. Thus, while it may be tempting for the government to simply “print money” to finance its budget deficits, this should be done only within limits, so as to avoid increasing the money supply by more than the economy can absorb without rapid inflation.
*The government does not actually physically print new money for itself to spend. The process is more subtle than that, and will be examined in detail. However, the economic effects of such a policy are such that it can reasonably be described as “printing money.”
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