> looking at the ledger used by governments to keep score amongst themselves is quite telling.
how does one do this?
do you mean looking at the currency exchnage market?
how does one do this?
do you mean looking at the currency exchnage market?
The private banks have their own ledger, and, in that sense, they can create money. But if they have to operate outside their ledge, they need a "more real" money. That money, it's the ledger in the central bank (and cash).
This "more real money" is called "bank reserves" (not to confuse with reserves of gold or foreign currencies that are a different thing).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_for_International_Settlem...