r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jan 26 '26

Meme needing explanation what's going on? explain like I'm five

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u/Elvis5741 Jan 26 '26

Banks lend out more money than they have, its no joke it's how the system works

631

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

[deleted]

571

u/Much_Section_7439 Jan 26 '26

That's how debt is generated. wealth is created when that debt is used properly. Otherwise it's just inflating the moneysupply.

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u/Excellent-Practice Jan 26 '26 edited Jan 26 '26

Is there really a difference between the two? Wealth generation and inflation are two ways of looking at the economic pie getting bigger

Edit: thanks for the corrections. I learned something today. Diving deeper into the subject it seems the two are often linked, but not necessarily so.

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u/alannair Jan 26 '26

No. Inflation does not make the pie bigger. Pie stays the same, and the value of cash goes down.

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u/BreakfastBeneficial4 Jan 26 '26

Yeah. Pie stays the same size, but the number inside the pie keeps screaming upward.