IRL, whenever anyone tells me that the Fed's "money printing" is "causing" this or that other thing, I always ask: "OK, tell me how the 'printed money' ends up in people's hands, and why and how it causes bubbles and inflation like you say." Typically, the response I get is a deer-in-the-headlights blank stare.<p>In fact, the Fed cannot "print money." Only the US Treasury can, and it must first borrow the money or collect it in taxes. The Fed only buys/sells government/agency bonds in the open market, lends money to banks <i>when those banks ask for it</i>, and changes short-term rates.<p>To paraphrase H. L. Mencken, all these "money printing" narratives that blame the Fed for some economic malaise are simple, appealing, and wrong.