• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    4 months ago

    If you want to know why your “they create currency” argument is ridiculous, look up the Weimar Republic or what happened in Zimbabwe in 2007.

    • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Their is a reason controlling the currency and removing money from circulation is important, I never discounted that but the federal government does not wait around to receive tax money before they decide if they have money to spend. They create new money to fund things and destroy the tax funds as they come in.

        • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          It’s how the federal budget functions. Congress passes a budget, the central bank generates the money, and the money received via taxes gets destroyed. You can make whatever of it you want but that is actually how US currency, and likely any FIAT currency for that matter, functions.

          • ji17br@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            4 months ago

            They can’t just print money when they need money. That’s not how it works at all. Sure, they replace money that has been destroyed. The government absolutely needs tax money for education, infrastructure, health care etc.

            • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              4 months ago

              They can and do create money in support of the budget. They can’t create unlimited money without consequence but they do create money for the budget and money returned to the government via taxes is destroyed. The gov takes out loans by issuing bonds and the National debt is simply a running total of those issued bonds over time. The federal government doesn’t need anyone’s money to have money, they create the money, they tax it back to get rid of it. It’s a spend first tax after system.

                • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  4 months ago

                  I never intended to imply taxes aren’t required, I was simply trying to state that they are not taking away from infrastructure spending because they issued increase funding to the secret service. I feel like a lot of folks naturally evaluate the federal government budget like a state, local, or personal budget and it’s backwards. Rather than taking money in and then spending it, they generate the money and then remove it with taxes. That was the only point I was attempting to convey.

                  • ji17br@lemmy.ml
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    4 months ago

                    Ok that’s fair. Apologies if I was being too stern. It sounded like you literally thought they just print as much money as they want and that taxes are a scam.