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The GFC does not count. The GFC was caused by (1) bad underwriting policies (banks, AIG) that generated a huge debt overhang and (2) bad and poorly understood dependencies between banks that led to breakdown of the normal flows of assets between the banks.

None of this was in any way dependent on or catalyzed by government money creation. The same dynamic cause the beginning of the great depression in 1929-30 due to excessive margin lending and then runs on banks. At that time the US was on the gold standard.

> Would the GFC count?

how would you know that the GFC wouldn't have been worse had the Feds not printed back then?

How do you know it still would've happened at all? This isn't a very productive conversation.

Printing money (at the current scale) only started in response to the GFC.