When has the Fed "printed money out of thin air" to finance something?

Economics Economics Questions
1

I understand the problems with socialism, central planning and especially with central economic planning via central banks and how their interventionist policies distort economies and create a boom-bust cycle and inflation.

What I am curious about is if there is a list or record of every time the Federal Reserve has printed up money to finance a war or welfare program or whatever else and in what dollar quantities it created.

Any idea where I can find a summary of all money created by the Fed (not counting the money multiplier through fractional reserve practices) since it’s inception in 1913?

2

I think part of the transparency problem (or lack there of), is that no such list is in circulation. I am sure the Federal Reserve has that information for themselves, but until Congressman Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act is signed in, no one can get it.

One way the Fed lowered interest rates on loans is by printing more money. You can determine generalized points of when they did print more money, and I am sure through some CRAZY amount of research you could even estimate how much they printed.

Or, you could wait for the bill to pass.

Hope I helped a bit.

3

Thanks man. Great response. That’s kind of what I was thinking as well but wasn’t sure.

4
5

i dont know what is considered federal reserve financing per se…unless you consider interest rate manipulation federal reserve financing.

if the federal reserves decades long rate tampering, bank bailing, account reclassifications to alter reserves isa financing mode, then that might not be so difficult to locate.

i have been told that the federal reserve regularly purchases bank securities with ‘credit’ that arises from basically govt agency caprice…rather than a market initiated need (desire) for additional (commodity) money.

that is what i was told. if true, that could be the federal reservers method of financing

6

I asked a similar question to Prof. Salerno (well, I asked him where I could find good data on the money supply between 1933–37, but his source covers it all until 1960) and he pointed me towards Friedman’s A Monetary History of the United States. I just received the book through the mail today, actually, but have not had a chance to verify it as the best source for this type of information. Nevertheless, it’s a source to keep in mind, given that he believes that it is the best source on the subject.