[brandonsometig]

Miners don't have the ability to 'print' more Bitcoin. They can release blocks with whatever transactions they like in but they will simply be rejected by the network.

The fact that there is 10,000 public bitcoin nodes (and probably x10 private ones) keeps the system honest.

[root_axis]

You're right that the miners don't have unilateral authority to print more bitcoin, but ultimately they are the muscle behind the process. This is akin to saying "the military can't just print more money to pay for military spending". This is true, and it's unlikely that the military would turn their guns on the institutions in order to achieve this goal because it would threaten the stability of the entire system in which they thrive (like with the miners and bitcoin)... yet... somehow things always work out in such a way where they get their money. It never gets to the point where they have to turn their guns on anyone because their silent authority confers enough influence that the politicians making the decisions (i.e. developer cabals in the case of bitcoin) manage to find solutions that keep them fat and happy while delivering enough voluble rhetoric to ensure that the general population doesn't revolt.

Same thing will happen for the miners eventually.