Humans have caused 1.5 °C of long-term global warming according to new estimates

Printing money wouldn't work - you just make all of the existing money less valuable.

That doesn't mean the new money doesn't have value, just has a small percentage less value. It's a wealth transfer from people who currently have money to the new money. It works out well for people who have a negative net worth, as well!

It actually would even if it made existing money less valuable. Econ 101

Ever heard of quantitative easing?

Yeah, the salaried folk who find out in hindsight will be really happy as well. /s

It is a wealth transfer from people who currently have cash and earn cash (workers, since increases in pay lag the rate at which currency loses purchasing power) to people who have assets and COLA adjusted annuities (wealthy people and old people).

It wouldn't work linearly, but it still works. If you print 10% of your GDP in a year, you'll be sitting on only 1/11th of the GDP in cash at the end of the process.

Look at Covid fiscal response causing permanent 30% inflation in the last 4 years. The climate+demographic response money printing operation will be way bigger than that.

You are essentially forced borrowing from the cash holders of the printed currency. So yeah it would work. Wouldn’t necessarily be fair or popular; but it would work. Just have to account for the new money also being worth less because of the increase in the denominator of this equation.

Most of the inflation from the last 4 years is attributable to Russia invading Ukraine. You can't have the largest natural gas exporter and second largest oil exporter invade one of the largest grain exporters without causing basically everything in a supermarket or restaurant to be more expensive.

Also shipping interruptions and lockdowns. Giving people money to not work is goin to have a much larger inflationary effect than giving people money to build things we want.

Source? America is a natural gas exporter.

> Most of the inflation from the last 4 years is attributable to Russia invading Ukraine

Source? Other than media articles repeating "due to the war in Ukraine"

Assuming you are talking about the USA, supposedly the USA is a net /exporter/ of grains [0]

[0] Not loading for me but https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistic... . Copilot said "The United States is a net grain exporter. According to the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), the U.S. typically exports more agricultural goods, including grains, than it imports1. In fiscal year 2023, the value of U.S. agricultural exports was $178.7 billion, despite a decline from the previous year. Grains and feeds are among the leading U.S. agricultural exports"

Assets and cola adjusted annuities also lag. They may lag less, but that's a discussion to have.

Real median wages have gone up more than inflation has over the last few years. It's just not evenly distributed.

I don't think sarcastic comments really help, people who aren't capable of having real conversations about this already bring enough of that. It is definitely worth talking openly about whether it's worth trading short term inflationary pain for long-term climate pain.

I guess you're right. The parent speaks of inflation as if printing money is the new norm. If you are going to take money from your citizens then be upfront about it!

All the money we have was printed. Printing money has always been the norm, it's just a matter of how much - at what rate.

When the prices of fungible products rise in one place, they rise everywhere, otherwise there would be arbitrage opportunities everywhere.

You can print but still have a cap, see Bitcoin.

We do have a cap. It's not even clear to me that the federal government prints more slowly than bitcoin as a percentage of issued currency.