Replies

Not only did you not just borrow $1B, but if you had it would not have increased the money supply. The total volume of loans outstanding would be some multiple (say 10) of the reserves on hand. By writing out a check for $1B your bank expanded another banks cash on hand by $1B but contracted it's own cash on hand by $1B. There is no new money in the system, and overall loans cannot increase. New lending is only possible with new net reserves in the system and the FED creates those.

The total volume of bank loans could only increase by the FED intentioanlly injecting more cash into the system. It can do this in a few ways. One, it can by a treasury, effectively giving the treasury money to spend, which when spent ends up in the banking system. Second, it could purchase a security, say a CDO containing your loan as part of the bundle. In other words, the FED has by this action monetized what is normally a debt instrument.

Of course none of this counts truly private debt - you sell me your house and take my private bond in exchange. In an ideal world we could create all the paper money we wanted in this fashion. In reality we cannot because the IRS is going to come looking for taxes both on the sale of the house and on the interest on the mortgage that is generated, and that requires that the debt instrument become monetized in some fashion. It becomes MZM if and when the FED agrees to purchase it, or a CDO containing it, for newly created cash money. It is no secret that the FED has started to do that.