I think this answer is missing the point of the question. The deficit gets paid either way, it’s just a question of whether it’s paid via money printing or taxes. Ignoring money for a moment, any time the government uses resources to do stuff, someone else has to not use those resources. Money is system for allocating those resources, but changes in the money supply can’t (directly) change the amount of resources available, and in a frictionless, spherical economy, there’s no difference between taxes and inflation.
On the one hand, I probably do miss the point economically.
On the other hand, paying the deficit via money printing vs paying it via taxes creates a very different subjective experience to individuals with lower macroeconomic literacy, which is probably a majority of taxpayers and voters. Subjective experiences inform reactions (spending behavior, voting behavior, criminal behavior, etc), and group reactions inform if and how a policy actually plays out in practice.
I think this answer is missing the point of the question. The deficit gets paid either way, it’s just a question of whether it’s paid via money printing or taxes. Ignoring money for a moment, any time the government uses resources to do stuff, someone else has to not use those resources. Money is system for allocating those resources, but changes in the money supply can’t (directly) change the amount of resources available, and in a frictionless, spherical economy, there’s no difference between taxes and inflation.
On the one hand, I probably do miss the point economically.
On the other hand, paying the deficit via money printing vs paying it via taxes creates a very different subjective experience to individuals with lower macroeconomic literacy, which is probably a majority of taxpayers and voters. Subjective experiences inform reactions (spending behavior, voting behavior, criminal behavior, etc), and group reactions inform if and how a policy actually plays out in practice.