| :D Hey OP. I didn't put it in my comment because I have no evidence, but my first guess was that the cost-disease-funded-by-debt was exactly caused by those 2 trillion. My instinct is as follows: * The reserves for fractional reserve banking are excess reserves at the Fed + other reserves. * Fed is safer than other, so large portions of the banks reserves sit with the fed. * New money is created by the banks as loans. * The excess reserves allow massive lending (the multiplier was something like 20x if I recall). * Banks now have an income stream & massive cash reserves. Actors willing to take on debt push any capitalists smaller than a bank out of capital markets. Basically, I assume these "excess" reserves are misleadingly labeled and are actually in use relative to the fractional reserve system. That is obviously a complicated guess with no evidence, and you look like you've put more effort into research than me, but it fails the sniff test that 2 trillion exists and is having literally no impact. I bet it is and it is just complicated enough that it is hard to pin down. |