[quote author="Failedagent" date=1217226905]I could be wrong, BUT the Fed cannot just print money on a whim. They have to buy T-Bills. For every T-Bill they buy they COULD print an actual paper dollar, but instead they issue an internal bank deposit (IBDD) which a bank COULD redeem for paper dollars. If my understanding is correct, the only way for the Fed to "print more money" is to convince people to buy more T-Bills so that the Fed can afford to buy some of the older T-Bills back. It is intersting to note that the US government cannot buy back T-Bills simply by cranking up a printing press. If the government cannot afford to buy back T-Bills with tax money, it must convince the public to purchase new T-Bills by raising the interest rates. The US dollar in NOT a currency where paper money can simply be printed and distributed to the public.
One of the effects of having Japanese and Chinese purchase US T-Bills is that it allows the US government to increase the money supply the same amount. This lowers interest rates, increases the money supply, and is partly responsible for the credit boom we saw. These foreign investors lose big when the dollar gets devalued because of inflation.
I think the way this banking crisis will work out is that the Fed will have to raise interest rates on T-Bills to generate enough cash reserves to bail out the FDIC. THis increase in the T-Bill interest rates will drive up US interest rates in general, increase mortgage rates, drive down real estate prices, and attract more foreign investment. What is really wierd is that increasing the money supply should be an inflationary influence, but the effect of higher interest rates will also be a deflationary influence for real estate.</blockquote>
Who is going to tell the Fed they can't print, (electronically enter numbers on their computers)? And who is going to penalize the Fed if they do exactly that? Congress created the Federal Reserve and the Fed reports to Congress, but the Fed is not accountable to Congress. The only thing Congress can do if the Fed breaks the rules of it's charter is to pass a law. And that would just be more closing the barn door after the animals are out. My guess is the treasury dept. will print, (electronically), T-bills, the Fed will buy them, (with electronically created dollars), and the treasury will hand the money to the FDIC. Just a guess.