^ Let me re-phrase all of that, for clarification.

The US Mint is a department within the US Treasury. The US Mint prints paper currency (and coin). EDIT: The US Mint mints coin; the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints currency.

There was a time when the US Mint printed "United States Dollars" in various denominations, for the US Treasury. But it no longer does that. Here's how it works today:

• Step 1: The US BEP prints Federal Reserve Notes, in the millions.
• Step 2: The US BEP physically delivers these to the Federal Reserve Bank, and NOT to any department within the US Treasury.
• Step 3: The Federal Reserve Bank pays for the INK AND PAPER, and NOT anything having to do with the denomination on the face of that piece of paper. The ink and paper cost of a $1 bill is the same as a $100 bill, and the FRB pays the same amount for each, which is mere pennies on the dollar.
• Step 4: Now that the FRB owns these millions of dollars worth of pieces of paper, for which they paid maybe a few hundred dollars, they can use these bills in commerce.
• Step 5: However, they would have no value, except for one thing: The US Congress passed a law that says that Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender for all debts, public and private (says right on the face of the bill).
• Step 6: So, since they can be used in commerce and accepted by the US government, the FRB uses them to buy US Treasury debt instruments (bonds, notes, etc.). So, the FRB has purchased millions in Treasury debt in exchange for pieces of paper for which they paid only the cost of printing by the US Mint. The US Treasury has the money (FRN's) to pay bills, and the FRB has the US Treasury instruments, which they put in their vaults, and collect interest on (and the interest income is far more than what they paid for the ink and paper in the first place).
• Step 7: This is how the FRB "prints money." They don't physically print. Instead, they have the US BEP do it, and then pay only for paper and ink costs, even though the end product can purchase millions or billions of dollars worth of stuff. If they want to go out and pay cash for a yacht, they can do it for the cost of printing the paper. It is ALL counterfeit, except that the US Congress passed a law saying it is all OK.

Finally, the physical currency is only a small fraction of the money supply. Most of it these days is digital. But the same scam is done with the digital money as the physical.

The term "printing money," in the sense of what a central bank does, does not necessarily mean the physical printing press. It just means they create it out of nothing, or almost nothing, and use it at full face value.

This the primary reason that inflation happens.

Think about the price of gold and silver versus things you can buy. In 1913, the amount of gold and silver that would be needed to buy a man's suit was about the same as what it would cost in gold or silver today. It might even be cheaper in gold or silver today. But in Federal Reserve Notes, the price is MUCH higher. THAT is inflation. YOU lose because your FRN's buy LESS than they did before. And the people "printing" them for nothing are the ones who GAIN ... at YOUR expense.

THAT is the ONLY purpose of a central bank -- to steal wealth from the People, and give it to those who control the central bank.

^ Let me re-phrase all of that, for clarification.

The US Mint is a department within the US Treasury. The US Mint prints paper currency (and coin).

There was a time when the US Mint printed "United States Dollars" in various denominations, for the US Treasury. But it no longer does that. Here's how it works today:

• Step 1: The US Mint prints Federal Reserve Notes, in the millions.
• Step 2: The US Mint physically delivers these to the Federal Reserve Bank, and NOT to any department within the US Treasury.
• Step 3: The Federal Reserve Bank pays for the INK AND PAPER, and NOT anything having to do with the denomination on the face of that piece of paper. The ink and paper cost of a $1 bill is the same as a $100 bill, and the FRB pays the same amount for each, which is mere pennies on the dollar.
• Step 4: Now that the FRB owns these millions of dollars worth of pieces of paper, for which they paid maybe a few hundred dollars, they can use these bills in commerce.
• Step 5: However, they would have no value, except for one thing: The US Congress passed a law that says that Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender for all debts, public and private (says right on the face of the bill).
• Step 6: So, since they can be used in commerce and accepted by the US government, the FRB uses them to buy US Treasury debt instruments (bonds, notes, etc.). So, the FRB has purchased millions in Treasury debt in exchange for pieces of paper for which they paid only the cost of printing by the US Mint. The US Treasury has the money (FRN's) to pay bills, and the FRB has the US Treasury instruments, which they put in their vaults, and collect interest on (and the interest income is far more than what they paid for the ink and paper in the first place).
• Step 7: This is how the FRB "prints money." They don't physically print. Instead, they have the US Mint do it, and then pay only for paper and ink costs, even though the end product can purchase millions or billions of dollars worth of stuff. If they want to go out and pay cash for a yacht, they can do it for the cost of printing the paper. It is ALL counterfeit, except that the US Congress passed a law saying it is all OK.

Finally, the physical currency is only a small fraction of the money supply. Most of it these days is digital. But the same scam is done with the digital money as the physical.

The term "printing money," in the sense of what a central bank does, does not necessarily mean the physical printing press. It just means they create it out of nothing, or almost nothing, and use it at full face value.

This the primary reason that inflation happens.

Think about the price of gold and silver versus things you can buy. In 1913, the amount of gold and silver that would be needed to buy a man's suit was about the same as what it would cost in gold or silver today. It might even be cheaper in gold or silver today. But in Federal Reserve Notes, the price is MUCH higher. THAT is inflation. YOU lose because your FRN's buy LESS than they did before. And the people "printing" them for nothing are the ones who GAIN ... at YOUR expense.

THAT is the ONLY purpose of a central bank -- to steal wealth from the People, and give it to those who control the central bank.

^ Let me re-phrase all of that, for clarification.

The US Mint is a department within the US Treasury. The US Mint prints paper currency (and coin).

There was a time when the US Mint printed "United States Dollars" in various denominations, for the US Treasury. But it no longer does that. Here's how it works today:

• Step 1: The US Mint prints Federal Reserve Notes, in the millions.
• Step 2: The US Mint physically delivers these to the Federal Reserve Bank, and NOT to any department within the US Treasury.
• Step 3: The Federal Reserve Bank pays for the INK AND PAPER, and NOT anything having to do with the denomination on the face of that piece of paper. The ink and paper cost of a $1 bill is the same as a $100 bill, and the FRB pays the same amount for each, which is mere pennies on the dollar.
• Step 4: Now that the FRB owns these millions of dollars worth of pieces of paper, for which they paid maybe a few hundred dollars, they can use these bills in commerce.
• Step 5: However, they would have no value, except for one thing: The US Congress passed a law that says that Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender for all debts, public and private (says right on the face of the bill).
• Step 6: So, since they can be used in commerce and accepted by the US government, the FRB uses them to buy US Treasury debt instruments (bonds, notes, etc.). So, the FRB has purchased millions in Treasury debt in exchange for pieces of paper for which they paid only the cost of printing by the US Mint. The US Treasury has the money (FRN's) to pay bills, and the FRB has the US Treasury instruments, which they put in their vaults, and collect interest on (and the interest income is far more than what they paid for the ink and paper in the first place).
• Step 7: This is how the FRB "prints money." They don't physically print. Instead, they have the US Mint do it, and then pay only for paper and ink costs, even though the end product can purchase millions or billions of dollars worth of stuff. If they want to go out and pay cash for a yacht, they can do it for the cost of printing the paper. It is ALL counterfeit, except that the US Congress passed a law saying it is all OK.

Finally, the physical currency is only a small fraction of the money supply. Most of it these days is digital. But the same scam is done with the digital money as the physical.