You could probably line up all the countries in the world on a line with the tiny wealthy tax havens like:

1 Monaco 168,004
2 Liechtenstein 164,437
3 Luxembourg 101,835
— Bermuda 99,363
4 Switzerland 79,609
— Macau 73,187

on one side and the Communist or recently communist countries on the other side:

66 Venezuela 9,230
77 Cuba 7,815
157 Myanmar 1,242

On one side, you have the least amount of taxation and government control. On the other side you have the most amount of taxation and government control.

The USA would fall far closer the tiny tax havens than the collectivist totalitarian states. But the question is: "Why move in the direction of the collectivist totalitarian states with all their poverty and misery rather than move in the directions of the ultra wealthy tiny tax havens?"

The Chinese Stock market is down more than 50% from its peak in 2007:

[tradingeconomics.com]

The US Stock market is up about 60% from its peak in 2007:

[finance.yahoo.com]

So over the long term the USA's free market capitalism outperforms China's centrally planned markets.

That being said, the introduction of some free market reforms has provided tremendous benefits to the Chinese relative to the days of Mao, when his centrally-planned economy led to the deaths by famine of millions.

@Veteran229, @BD66 The US economy was much stronger under Eisenhower with a 91% marginal tax rate, far more regulation, and higher wages compared to prices. Why isn't the economy stronger now?

The stock market doesn't make the economy. Why have auto companies abandoned thousands of cars and left them to decay?
[epicdash.com]

@Veteran229 I agree about the FED and Treasury, except they borrow, not print money. Why is it the current administration has increased the national debt by $1.2T.

@Veteran229 When the national debt increases, the US borrows. If the US lent money, the debt would be negative. China and Japan have started selling US bonds, part of our debt.

@Veteran229 Fidelity says,

" U.S. Treasury Bonds

"Treasuries are debt obligations issued and backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Because they are considered to have low credit or default risk, they generally offer lower yields relative to other bonds. "

Wikipedia says,

"As of September 2014, foreigners owned $6.06 trillion of U.S. debt, or approximately 47 percent of the debt held by the public of $12.8 trillion and 34 percent of the total debt of $17.8 trillion. As of 2018, the largest holders were China, Japan, Ireland, and Brazil."

Wikipedia also says,

"The national debt of the United States is the debt, or unpaid borrowed funds, carried by the federal government of the United States, which is measured as the face value of the currently outstanding Treasury securities that have been issued by the Treasury and other federal government agencies. "

Can you show where the US prints money to loan?

@Veteran229 According to Wikipedia,

"The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the United States government, most notable of which is Federal Reserve Notes (paper money) for the Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank ..."

True, the Federal Reserve System issues federal reserve notes, but it does not print them. Moreover, the Federal Reserve was created by congress, which also regulates its activities. It is not a privately incorporated bank, it does not report to POTUS, it does have some independence from government control, but the chairman is appointed by POTUS.

I asked if you could find a reference telling how the US prints money to loan, but you didn't answer that question.

@Veteran229 According to [factmonster.com],

"The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces 38 million notes a day with a face value of approximately $541 million. That doesn't mean there is $541 million more money circulating today than there was yesterday, though, because 95% of the notes printed each year are used to replace notes already in circulation."

$541M*5%=$27.05M in currency daily, but the national debut is trillions, and increased by several hundred billion this year. We aren't loaning money, we are borrowing heavily. Banks must by law buy treasuries, and the Federal Reserve loans the money collected by the sale of treasury notes, plus a tiny amount of printed money.

@Veteran229 Selling treasury bonds. In other words, they borrow it.

@Veteran229 OK, you asked.

"The Hutchins Center Explains: The Fed’s balance sheet" -- [brookings.edu]

"Why can't we just print a bunch of money to make everyone rich?" -- [askdruniverse.wsu.edu]

"During Fiscal Year 2014, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing delivered approximately 6.6 billion notes to the Federal Reserve, producing approximately 24.8 million notes a day with a face value of approximately $560 million." -- [treasury.gov]

" Historically, the majority of the notes that the Board orders each year replace unfit currency that Reserve Banks receive from circulation.2 The estimated number of notes that Reserve Banks will destroy accounts for nearly 90 percent of the FY 2019 print order and includes both unfit currency, operational changes, as well as old-design notes received from circulation." -- [federalreserve.gov]

I'll adjust with this info, including an error correction.

$560M daily 10% new notes = $56M daily
56M daily 365 = $20,440M yearly

That $20.44B is about 10% of the increase in our national debt in 2018.

You asked, "The bond is an IOU, Where does the fed get money to trade for the bond?" The bond is a sheet of paper with the IOU amount printed on it. It's like you going to a bookie and giving him an IOU for a bet. At the moment, all it costs is the piece of paper and the ink. If you lose, you must repay. Treasuries are not being repaid. The government just issues more bonds and sells them to repay the old bonds. It's a shell game.

@Veteran229 I don't understand your question. It seems you already understand; at least your words seem to say the following:

1. Treasury prints bonds and gives them to the Fed.
2. The Fed trades the bonds for money.
3. The Fed gives the money to the government to spend, pays interest on previously issued bonds, and buys back bonds that have matured.
4. Repeat 1-3.
   The government gets money from the IRS, but too little to pay for everything. The difference is made up 10% newly printed and 90% from treasury bonds.

You asked, "where does the fed get the money from?" If I haven't answered the question, please ask it another way?

IDK how the Fed gives money to the government, but if it is important to you, I'll look for that info.

@Veteran229 You edited and ask differently. The government prints IOUs, to get money (the 90%) and currency (the 10%). The difference is we don't have to pay back the 10%, since it isn't a debt. However, you and I are responsible for the treasury bond debt.

@Veteran229 You said, "Your assertion is that the fed has the money to loan out trillions every year." However, I do not assert the government loans trillions every year. I said it borrows trillions every year. It prints treasury bonds, which costs nothing, and trades them for trillions. That is borrowing, not loaning.

@Veteran229 Not true. It is a quasi governmental organization, chartered by congress to help manage the government's money.

@Veteran229 "The Federal Reserve System (also known as the Federal Reserve or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of financial panics (particularly the panic of 1907) led to the desire for central control of the monetary system in order to alleviate financial crises." -- [en.wikipedia.org]

@Veteran229 "So is the Fed private or public? The answer is both. While the Board of Governors is an independent government agency, the Federal Reserve Banks are set up like private corporations. Member banks hold stock in the Federal Reserve Banks and earn dividends." -- [stlouisfed.org]

@Veteran229 You said, "And 15 years later they cause the great depression." Off topic. IDK, but probably not that simple.

@Veteran229 The Fed has been borrowing from Social Security. Federal agencies can borrow from the Fed, which is how the Fed gives the government money. Those loans less what the Fed borrows from the government must be the national debt. [en.wikipedia.org]

@Veteran229 I'm learning more about the Fed. Some of loans to banks go to personal debt, mortgages, car loans, credit card debt, etc. Some is loaned to corporations. So, we aren't responsible for all the Fed debt. But, that's not the original point, which was about the government printing and loaning money. The government is in debt, it doesn't loan more than it borrows. Although, it gives tax breaks to the rich to the tune of trillions, while piling up debt on us.

@Veteran229 I agree about the Fed creating money, but it does so mostly by selling bonds and earning interest on loans to banks.

@Veteran229 Have known that for a long time. But, have learned more about the process during this discussion. But, making it from thin air creates debt. They do not print money in vast amounts.

Evidently the root cause of the flat to declining life expectancy in the USA is "Substance Abuse and Despair", so the question is, "Where do you see the most Despair, in countries like East Germany, North Korea, and Cuba where people literally risk their lives to escape, or in free market countries like West Germany, South Korea etc.

[fortune.com]