By: Mike Maharrey|Published on: Jun 17, 2020

The Federal Reserve serves as the engine that makes all of the U.S. government’s unconstitutional spending possible. Without the Fed, the entire system would collapse.

Case in point, in March and April of this year, the Federal Reserve effectively monetized 100 percent of the new debt taken on by the U.S. government.

What does this mean in practice?

In March and April, the U.S. Treasury Department issued $1.56 trillion in debt securities to fund Uncle Sam’s massive coronavirus spending spree. Meanwhile, in March, the Fed bought $1.2 trillion in Treasury bonds. The central bank slowed its roll a bit in April, but till purchased $526 billion in U.S. bonds. That brought the two-month total to $1.56 trillion.

In effect, the Federal Reserve bought all of the debt issued by the U.S. government in March and April with money created out of thin air.

Granted, the central bank doesn’t buy bonds directly from the U.S. Treasury. That would be illegal. It purchases Treasuries on the open market. But by inserting itself into the bond market, the Fed creates artificial demand for Treasuries. This keeps prices up and interest rates low. Without the Fed interjecting itself into the market, there would not be sufficient demand to fund all of the government borrowing. Minus the central bank, there wouldn’t be enough buyers.

On June 9, the national debt pushed above $26 trillion. In just a little over two months, the U.S. government has added over $2 trillion to the debt. The 2020 budget deficit has already set an all-time record with four months left in the fiscal year.

And there is no end in sight to the spending. There is talk of additional stimulus and President Donald Trump is reportedly working on a proposal for a $1 trillion infrastructure package.

During a podcast, financial analyst Peter Schiff pointed out that Trump’s infrastructure plan would ultimately rely on borrowing backstopped with money created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve.

“The government doesn’t have money that it doesn’t take. Any dollar that the government spends is a dollar that the private sector can’t spend or can’t invest. The government has to take money out of the economy before it can put it back in. Nobody seems to understand this basic point because they see the Fed creating money and they think, well, we just print money. They don’t realize that when they print money, they destroy the value of the money that’s already there. So, they’re not adding new purchasing power. They’re just redistributing it.”

If the federal government had to rely on tax receipts and debt it could repay to fund all of its unconstitutional wars, foreign aid and domestic spending, it would be dead in the water. The ability to raise revenue through taxation would naturally limit the government. But with the Fed backstopping the borrowing and monetizing the debt, there is virtually no limits on its spending.

Money is power and the Federal Reserve serves as an unlimited spigot pumping dollars into the system, enabling the biggest government in the history of the world to keep on truckin’. Without the Fed, there would be no foreign wars. There would be no massive, unsustainable social programs. There would be no police state. There would be no corporate welfare programs. The federal government would truly be limited.

If you want to end unconstitutional, overreaching federal power — end the Fed.

Michael Maharrey [send him email] is the Communications Director for the Tenth Amendment Center. He is from the original home of the Principles of ’98 – Kentucky and currently resides in northern Florida. See his blog archive here and his article archive here. He is the author of the book, Our Last Hope: Rediscovering the Lost Path to Liberty. You can visit his personal website at MichaelMaharrey.com and like him on Facebook HERE

Original article can be viewed here

  federal reserve, national debt, qe, quantitative easing