I just came across an interesting question: why don’t countries print their own money and instead have to borrow from other nations? It sounds strange, but the reality is quite different.

First, imagine the world as a small village. The U.S. specializes in producing defense technology, Russia makes tools, China sews clothes, Germany manufactures cars, France produces perfume, and Vietnam grows rice. Each family wants to live well, so they buy goods from other families — that’s called imports.

The question is: what do they use to pay? Initially, gold was used, but gold is heavy and hard to divide. So, the richest, strongest, and most powerful person in the village — the U.S. — declares: from now on, everyone will use U.S. dollars, which I will print, and all will be backed by gold. People trust this, so they agree. Since then, all international trade has used the dollar.

Now, the question is: can countries print their own money? In theory, yes, but in practice, no. Because when you want to buy goods from abroad, the seller won’t accept your self-printed money — they only accept dollars. So, if you don’t have dollars in your pocket, you have to borrow or buy on credit.

Countries that export a lot of goods will earn many dollars. Foreign workers sending money home also bring in foreign exchange. The amount of dollars a country has is called foreign exchange reserves — a very important indicator that determines its ability to respond to economic crises. China currently has the largest reserves at $3.5 trillion, Japan has $1.4 trillion, and Switzerland has $1 trillion.

Every country has the right to print money, but this right belongs to the central bank — the authority with this power. Most are controlled by the government, but there are exceptions. For example, the U.S. Federal Reserve, which the U.S. government cannot fully control.

But what happens if a country prints too much money? Look at Zimbabwe. In the 1980s, Zimbabwe was an industrialized, wealthy country with many skyscrapers, admired by Southeast Asian nations. But starting in late 1997, war veterans protested for pensions, and Mugabe — a lawyer with a master’s degree — decided to solve the problem by printing money.

The result? The more money they printed, the higher prices went. People could buy a car in the morning, but by afternoon, they could only buy underwear. In 1980, $1 USD was worth 0.678 Zimbabwe dollars. In 1997, it was $10. In 2002, $1,000. In 2006, $500,000. By 2008, inflation reached 220,000%. The figure was so large it was impossible to calculate.

People had to drag carts of money to buy a loaf of bread. That’s the consequence of reckless money printing.

Why can the U.S. print more money than other countries? Because the dollar is used worldwide, so the consequences are borne by the global economy. The U.S. prints money, spends on defense, public projects, and American companies buy globally with newly printed dollars. Other countries receive these dollars and spend them on various transactions, creating a flow of dollars. This is called quantitative easing — a sophisticated way of printing money without causing excessive inflation.

But the U.S. can’t print infinitely. If it prints too much, the dollar will depreciate rapidly, causing global inflation, and even the U.S. itself will face problems. So, the U.S. only prints within a range that the global inflation rate can tolerate.

Do all countries have the right to print their own money? Yes, but the money they print won’t be recognized on the international market. Only the dollar — the strongest international currency — is accepted everywhere. Therefore, instead of printing useless money, countries choose to borrow dollars to maintain normal economic activity.