[HN Gopher] U.S. Treasury Data Lab
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U.S. Treasury Data Lab
Author : accountinhn
Score : 54 points
Date : 2021-09-14 19:10 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (datalab.usaspending.gov)
(TXT) w3m dump (datalab.usaspending.gov)
| Gabriel_Martin wrote:
| When it comes to comparing the amounts of US gov spending to US
| household spending (not that I could propose a better mechanism,
| meaning I understand the value of framing things in such a way,
| and fully admit I can't think of a more salient way to do it) I'm
| just not a fan of comparing state level spending to household or
| personal finance.
|
| It leads to other examples being used that just are not true.
| Like: "It is similar to a person using his or her credit card for
| a purchase (rather than cash, check, or a debit card) and not
| paying the full credit card balance each month".
|
| I cannot sell access to my debt to pay for past debts, which is
| how the government has paid it's debts since 1837 (probably so
| long ago because that the last time we sought to destroy debt and
| not pay for things by monetizing debt, it caused the longest
| depression in American history due to Jackson's monetary policy
| in 1835). Nor can I create credit out of thin air, by buying
| treasuries my member banks. Also, I most definitely do not owe
| 50% of my non-intergovernmental debt to my own central bank and
| state and local governments and their pensions. Much less, all
| the while operating with a currency I control.
|
| So yeah, I don't love it, but I get it.
| Aliabid94 wrote:
| Would be great if we could dive in deeper, breaking it down by
| expense purpose, regions, etc.
| [deleted]
| aazaa wrote:
| > While the Department of the Treasury prints actual dollars,
| "printing money" is also a term that is sometimes used to
| describe a means of monetary policy, which is conducted by the
| Federal Reserve. Monetary policy involves controlling the supply
| of money and the cost of borrowing. The Federal Reserve uses
| monetary policy to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and
| moderate long-term interest rates on the behalf of the Congress.
| The federal government uses fiscal policy, or the control of
| taxation and government spending, to promote economic activity.
|
| I can't help but think this is confusing as heck to most
| Americans.
|
| I'm not sure all of the quoted statements are true. Private banks
| create a good chunk of the new money that goes into circulation
| by issuing loans. The Federal government (through the Treasury)
| creates still more by issuing bonds to cover deficit spending.
|
| The Fed can influence the rate of money creation by setting short
| term rates. But the Fed can't force banks to loan money, so its
| power is limited. Especially so with short term rates pegged at
| zero for most of the last 13 years or so.
|
| Although some view the Fed's QE as a form of "money printing,"
| it's not. It's an asset swap in which the Federal reserve buys a
| Treasury from a bank, issuing a reserve asset as a credit to the
| bank. Reserve assets thereby become "trapped" inside the banking
| system. They are not cash and can only be used under very
| restricted conditions (not unlike a laundry token) at least
| according to some sources.
| nojito wrote:
| Providing liquidity via loans does not mean private banks are
| creating money!
| tick_tock_tick wrote:
| > Private banks create a good chunk of the new money that goes
| into circulation by issuing loans.
|
| Even this is misleading private banks do not "create" money.
| They add to the supply but do not create. For every loan credit
| there is an equal loan debit. The total amount of money, the
| sum of all credits and debits, is the exact same.
| AnimalMuppet wrote:
| Yes, but also no.
|
| Yes, a loan creates both a credit and a debit, and they
| offset exactly. In that sense, nothing is created.
|
| But the credit spends just like cash. The debit, on the other
| hand, does _not_ spend like negative cash. So in the sense of
| the supply of money _in circulation_ , bank loans create
| money.
| lend000 wrote:
| As the other commenter implied, in a fractional reserve
| banking system (where banks lend any amount > 0, and are not
| just acting as vaults), banks do indeed create money [0].
|
| Printed dollars are necessary in an amount proportional to
| economic activity, and the sum of printed dollars is only
| loosely related to the total money supply as it affects the
| macroeconomy (and is becoming less relevant every year).
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_multiplier
| Gabriel_Martin wrote:
| From your link, wouldn't: "the multiplier being the maximum
| amount of commercial bank money created by a given unit of
| central bank money" be interpreted to mean that as soon as
| central bank monetizes it's debt, i.e. the money is
| initially created, it inherently is equal to a certain
| amount of commercial bank money, as long as it doesn't
| remain unlent? So it's not really the new creation of
| money, but rather the realization of it's value, upon being
| lent by a bank?
| BobbyJo wrote:
| > The total amount of money, the sum of all credits and
| debits, is the exact same.
|
| Can't banks lend something like 7X more money than they have
| in deposits?
| pphysch wrote:
| > Although some view the Fed's QE as a form of "money
| printing," it's not. It's an asset swap in which the Federal
| reserve buys a Treasury from a bank, issuing a reserve asset as
| a credit to the bank. Reserve assets thereby become "trapped"
| inside the banking system. They are not cash and can only be
| used under very restricted conditions (not unlike a laundry
| token) at least according to some sources.
|
| According to [1], "[Federal Reserve Deposits] are
| interchangeable with Federal Reserve Notes", i.e. cash. But you
| are claiming the opposite. Do you have a source?
|
| [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Deposits
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(page generated 2021-09-14 23:00 UTC)