I've casually asked a few questions to my friends and family about where our money comes from here in the US. It's so clear that they have no idea, old ideas, or myths about our monetary system. It is a big, complicated situation and thinking about it too much makes them very uneasy, because they feel powerless and vulnerable enough already. I'm sure I don't understand it all, either, but I've come to appreciate that federal budgets, money, taxes, debts and deficits are not as I learned about them in high school in the 1970s!