We have updated our quarterly US Government Debt Monetization series, this update for the 4th quarter 2012.

FORBES: Connect

Any further debt monetization by the central bank now becomes counterproductive.

FORBES: Interest Rates Are on the Launch Pad

To put it bluntly, large-scale debt monetization is bad.

FORBES: Links 9 Jan: The Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin. Voters Aren't Stupid, You Know

Thus began the modern era of debt monetization.

FORBES: Quantitative Easing and the Money Printing Press

However, because the Fed and ECB have both proclaimed that they are on hold from debt monetization and currency debasement, the same monetary environment that led to the pronounced deflation that occurred during fall of 2008 has arrived once again.

FORBES: Deflation Isn't The Enemy

Failing to make this basic distinction helped lead to serious errors in outlook during the late 1980s, during which many observers who generally share sound presuppositions about the nature of the economy were given to histrionic predictions of national default, debt monetization, and hyperinflation.

FORBES: Don't Cave GOP, This Time Deficits DO Matter

Although the adoption of Reaganomics and the end of the Cold War permitted huge gains in peace and prosperity in the 1980s and 1990s, the earlier abandonment of gold-based money has eroded those gains, in large part by allowing massive deficit-spending, debt monetization, and now the downgrade of U.S. debt.

FORBES: Gold, Reagan and the Reds: From Degraded Dollar to Downgraded Debt

Without having the savings to bring down rates, the Fed has supplanted savings with monetization of debt.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Gold edged up as policy-setters signaled low rates would continue until mid-2015 and monetization of debt would continue, said Zachary Oxman, portfolio manager for TrendMax.

FORBES: Comex Gold Futures Pare Loss Slightly After FOMC Statement

Leaving aside the monetization of debt, using taxes or savings to handle a large fiscal deficit reduces the amount of money available to private investment and therefore curtails the creation of new businesses and limits much-needed increases in productivity.

FORBES: Impossible Things And Our Economic Recovery

What difference does it make if the central bank is called upon, or if monetization of its debt leads to inflation?

FORBES: Why S&P Downgrade Makes No Sense To Me

While Fisher blamed the monetization of the federal debt on fiscal policymakers, his statement was a shot across the bow of those who expect easy money to continue forever.

FORBES: Fed And Treasury Leave Devilish Prints On Bull Market