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I think when Doctorow talks about the CB, he pretty much puts it under government at large. Which I think is fair, various attempts at making CB independent on the actual government are rather puny in my opinion.

Regarding inflation, you're right, there are other sources of inflation than just government printing money. Money are also created privately, and certain inflation is IMHO inevitable, because most goods and assets depreciate.

But I do think that the inflation, induced by government printing additional money, can be negated by taxation.

It's not too dissimilar if you think of from the perspective of the government taking away purchasing power from the individual

How is a 1% inflation rate meaningfully different to a 1% tax on savings and investments, and a 1% subsidy on debt?

It’s a tax on savings, but not on most investments which would typically be assets that rise with inflation.

It’s a tax on debt issuers. Anybody loaning money will have to charge a much higher interest rate or they’ll get back less than they lent out.