In a Yahoo Finance video, Scott Melker says “money printing” includes expanding money or easing limits on its creation, not just producing banknotes. He cites Nero-era Rome, where denarii contained roughly a quarter less silver than comparable earlier coins.
Melker says the Yuan government used paper currency nationwide as the main medium of exchange for much of the dynasty. The notes remained relatively stable while issuance was constrained and they had a credible link to silver, he says; rebellions and warfare later pushed costs beyond tax revenue, followed by more issuance, weaker confidence and rising prices.
Melker cautions that not every increase in the money supply is harmful, saying monetary flexibility has rescued banking systems and kept recessions from becoming depressions. He also distinguishes coin debasement, paper issuance, bank lending and quantitative easing as different mechanisms.
