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Track A · FoundationsNode A3

How banks create money

A modern commercial bank does not lend out savers' deposits. It writes a loan and a matching deposit into existence in the same keystroke. Most of the money in the economy was made this way. Drive the books yourself, then decide what you think.

Layer 1 · Pocket

The thirty-second answer

~ 30s read
What is this?

When a commercial bank issues a loan, it does not lend out someone else's savings. It writes a number into two ledgers at once — and that act creates new money.

Why should I care?

Most of the money in the modern economy is bank-created, not government-printed. Whether it expands or contracts is what mortgage rates, asset prices, and your job market are tracking — even when no headline mentions it.

A loan creates a deposit · live
ASSETSLIABILITIESRESERVESDEPOSITSBank at rest
Loop · 0%No reserves leave the building.