wow- to think that I used to understand this...
either...
a) A bank has deposits of £1m. So it can lend out £900,000, and keep the £100,000 as the %10 deposit
or
b) A bank has deposits of £1m. That £1m counts as the 10%, so it can lend out 10 x this amount - £10m
(yes, it's a british bank. And it is investing in cluster bombs now)
which is it - a or b? I always thought it was b, as Anders has been explaining, but many more here think it is a. I suppose I could ask my banker brother, but seeing as he's a Bilderburger, he might be a little biased
The problem is, he isn't making any distinction between "deposit" and "reserve". If you deposit $10, the bank is required to hold on to a reserve of $1, and can loan out $9.
Of course, that $9 will likely be spent (you usually don't take out a loan just to hide it in you mattress), and that $9 will then be deposited in the bank (assuming there's only one bank in town, but it averages out). The bank can then lend out 90% of that $9, or $8.10. They then have $19 worth of deposits, $1.90 held in reserve, and $17.10 in loans outstanding, which counts as an asset on their books.
So, that original $10 now counts as $19. The CT types would insist that this means the bank has "created" $9 "out of nothing", but this completely ignores what the people borrowing the money actually do with it - which is usually
create new real wealth. I borrowed that $9 to buy something, like tools or materials, and I used those materials to make something - a new house, a new car, a meal at a restaurant, or some such thing. That end product can now (hopefully!) be sold for more than the $9 I spent, which allows me to pay off the loan, and make a profit as well.
That is,
I am the one who created that extra $9 - not out of "nothing", but out of the application of my skills and work.
And it's that part of the banking equation that the CT types never seem to get.