The money which the fed gave to the banks did not previously exist. The fed increased the balance sheet of the banks to indicate they had cash they would not otherwise have had. Fits my definition of “printed.”
I think a more accurate phrase is "borrowed into existence", which is worse than printing because the balance created charges interest. Printing money directly rather than borrowing it is less inflationary, because more money is needed to service debt.
(This is all bad so I may be splitting hairs, but I would advocate for direct currency printing over this lending scheme if given the chance.)
(This is all bad so I may be splitting hairs, but I would advocate for direct currency printing over this lending scheme if given the chance.)