Looking back at early 2020, the size of the US national debt was still hovering in the $20 trillion range. And now? It’s about to hit the $40 trillion ceiling.

In less than six years, the base money supply has almost doubled, translating to an annual compound growth rate of nearly 12%. Compare that to the current annual GDP growth rate of the US—about 3%. To put it simply: for every $4 printed, actual economic growth is less than $1.

At first glance, this efficiency seems ridiculously low, but from another perspective, there are a few points worth observing behind this approach.

First, through large-scale monetary expansion, the US has managed to keep its economic scale on a positive growth track, firmly maintaining its “number one in the world” position. For the US, this ranking isn’t just for show—it’s the foundation of its hegemonic system.

Second, while printing money like crazy, the US is also maintaining high interest rates—it seems contradictory, right? But in reality, this tactic has managed to keep both inflation and growth in check, preventing either from spiraling out of control. It’s a risky balancing act, but so far, they haven’t fallen.

What’s even stranger is that despite the Fed flooding the market with money as if from a helicopter, the dollar’s exchange rate hasn’t crashed. The traditional equation “money printing = devaluation” seems to have had its rules rewritten.

There’s a logical thread here worth considering: liquidity stimulus → increased economic activity → higher demand for currency → exchange rate actually holds up. Of course, for this logic to play out, you need the scale and credit foundation the US dollar has.

The market’s takeaway is clear: the transmission mechanism of monetary policy is far more complicated than what the textbooks suggest.