[User23]

> Just go look at the balance sheet of a real bank. You'll see it all balances very nicely

The first rule of tautology club is the first rule of tautology club. By definition double entry bookkeeping always balances no matter what the operations are. This example in no way refutes the parent claim. Furthermore, the banking system must be reasoned about in aggregate. The entire banking system in the USA is a creature of Congress, and every bank is a member of the Federal Reserve system that Congress created. While a given bank may fail due to the arcane shenanigans of the banking guild, the system in aggregate cannot fail unless Congress itself fails.

[danielmarkbruce]

Sure... you kind of left off the rest of the sentence there...In this case, what is the "it"? Ie, what specifically are the assets and liabilities?

In this case the loans are largely balanced by deposits. That was the point, and it does refute the parent claim.

If money was made up like folks are suggesting in this thread, then the items making the balance sheet balance would be... something else. I don't know, because it's such a stupid idea.