| > Printing money in to the hands of people who spend it is stealing from savers People spending is the foundation of our consumer economy. In times like this the type of spending that is being supported by direct emergency payment measures to people isn't profligate. Regular people aren't taking the money to go to the casino - they're using it to pay for basics like food and shelter. Even if they're using it to pay for video games or movie streaming, at least it keeps some money flowing through the economy. In contrast, a savings glut leads directly to underinvestment in the economy, contributing to economic stagnation and even income inequality in consumer based economies [1]. Printing money to buy bonds from corporations, however necessary in the short term, should come with serious strings attached, like a public stake in the ownership of these corporations. Sadly, that appears to be blocked at the moment on various political and legal fronts. Also, your savings are indifferentiable from someone else's borrowing if they are in cash at a bank or invested in securities like stocks. If it is cash at the bank account, it's backed by the FDIC up to 250k. If it's invested in securities, you get to deduct losses from your taxes. If you really want savings that cannot be used for lending at all, you need to buy land outright, sit on it, and be content with zero to negative returns. 1. https://carnegieendowment.org/chinafinancialmarkets/69838 |