Money Printing Calculator
Visualize how fast the Fed prints money by comparing to your annual income. Enter values for instant results with step-by-step formulas.
Reviewed by Sahil, Senior Finance & Tax Editor
Formula
New Money/sec = (M2 Supply x Growth Rate) / 31,536,000
Annual new money creation equals the M2 money supply multiplied by the annual growth rate. This is divided by seconds in a year (31,536,000) to get per-second creation rate. Your income per second is your annual income divided by seconds per year. The ratio shows how much faster money is created compared to your earnings.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Median Income Worker vs Money Supply
Problem:An American earning $65,000/year with $20,000 in savings. M2 supply is $21 trillion, growing at 7%/year. Inflation at 3.5%.
Solution:Annual new money: $21T x 7% = $1.47T\nPer second: $1.47T / 31,536,000 = $46,612/sec\nYour per second: $65,000 / 31,557,600 = $0.0021/sec\nFed prints your salary in: $65,000 / $46,612/sec = 1.39 seconds\nSavings purchasing power loss: $20,000 x 3.5% = $700/year\nSavings dilution: 6.5% relative to money supply
Result:Fed creates your salary in 1.39 seconds | Money created 22,196,190x faster | $700 savings erosion/year
Example 2: High Earner Perspective
Problem:Someone earning $200,000/year with $500,000 in savings, 7% supply growth, 3.5% inflation.
Solution:Per second earnings: $200,000 / 31,557,600 = $0.0063/sec\nFed per second: $46,612/sec\nFed prints salary in: $200,000 / $46,612 = 4.29 seconds\nSavings purchasing power loss: $500,000 x 3.5% = $17,500/year\nSavings after 10yr inflation: $500,000 x (1-0.035)^10 = $348,818
Result:Fed creates your salary in 4.29 seconds | $17,500 savings erosion/year | $500K becomes $349K in 10yr real value
Frequently Asked Questions
What does money printing actually mean and how does it work?
Money printing is a colloquial term for the process by which the Federal Reserve and banking system expand the money supply. The Fed does not literally print paper currency in response to economic needs; rather, it creates new money electronically through several mechanisms. The primary tool is open market operations, where the Fed purchases government bonds from banks and credits the banks with newly created reserves. Quantitative easing (QE) is a larger-scale version of this, used during economic crises. The fractional reserve banking system then multiplies this base money through lending, as banks can loan out most of their deposits, which get redeposited and re-lent in a cascading effect. The actual physical printing of bills is handled by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and primarily replaces worn-out currency rather than expanding the supply.
How much money has the Federal Reserve created in recent years?
The US M2 money supply grew dramatically during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2020, M2 stood at approximately $15.4 trillion. By January 2022, it had surged to roughly $21.8 trillion, an increase of about $6.4 trillion or 41 percent in just two years. This was the fastest money supply expansion in modern US history, driven by massive quantitative easing programs, pandemic stimulus payments, and expanded lending programs. For context, it took from the founding of the nation until 2012 for the money supply to reach $10 trillion, and then only about 8 years to add another $5 trillion. During 2020 alone, approximately 23 percent of all US dollars in existence were created in a single year. Since 2022, the money supply has contracted slightly as the Fed pursued quantitative tightening.
What is the M2 money supply and how is it measured?
M2 is a measure of the total money supply that includes cash, checking deposits, savings deposits, money market securities, and other time deposits under $100,000. It is the most commonly referenced money supply measure for understanding overall liquidity in the economy. M1, a narrower measure, includes only cash and checking deposits, which are the most liquid forms of money. M2 builds on M1 by adding savings accounts, money market accounts, and small-denomination time deposits that can be quickly converted to cash. The Federal Reserve publishes M2 data weekly, and economists track its growth rate as an indicator of potential inflation and economic activity. As of 2024, US M2 stands at approximately $21 trillion, representing the total amount of money readily accessible to consumers and businesses in the American economy.
How does money creation dilute the value of existing savings?
When new money enters the economy without a corresponding increase in goods and services, it dilutes the purchasing power of all existing dollars through inflation. Think of it like stock dilution: if a company issues new shares, each existing share represents a smaller ownership percentage. Similarly, when the money supply expands by 7 percent in a year, your savings represent a smaller fraction of the total money pool. If you have $20,000 in savings and the M2 supply is $21 trillion, your savings represent 0.0000000952 percent of the total supply. After 7 percent money supply growth, your $20,000 represents only 0.0000000890 percent, a dilution of about 6.5 percent. This is why savings accounts earning near-zero interest rates effectively lose value in real terms every year that inflation persists above the interest rate earned.
References
Reviewed by Sahil, Senior Finance & Tax Editor · Editorial policy