No, this was possible to do in the 19th century when they (banks) did actually issue more bank notes than they had gold as reserve. Today, you can't create assets ("just print bank notes or add the new money to accounts") without first balancing them with corresponding liabilities (claims, i.e. money lent to a bank). If you still think otherwise, please tell precisely how new money is added to an account and what happens to the balance
In a situation where there's not enough liquidity for the banks to handle the demand through interbank lending,
the bank borrows money from the Federal Reserve, through the discount window. There's no physical money which is transferred in that case, at least not immediately. Usually the need is temporary and the physical cash never needs to be even printed, let alone shipped to the bank.
Yes, so a newly created bank asset (claim on money lent, i.e. "printed out of thin air") is balanced by the bank's liability before the Federal Reserve. Still, there is no asset without a balancing it liability (though the balance itself increases giving
an illusion of creating money out of nothing)...
I'm not sure what you're getting at. Dollar bills themselves are a liability. A liability of the federal reserve.
I don't think anyone is under the impression that money is literally created out of nothing. It's a metaphor, not an illusion. Literally, money is created out of a balance sheet entry. Literally, dollar bills are created out of ink and paper.
It is not money that is being created through FRB or MM. It is money
derivatives that are actually created and redeemed. And yes, many are under the impression that
money is literally created out of nothing (there was an animation presented earlier here that shows just that)...
Surely, I wouldn't call a metaphor an actual increase in money terms on the balance sheet. As to me, illusion of creating money out of thin air is the right word