I mean you're not wrong, but that is what has ALWAYS happened. There is comparatively very little paper reserve notes (cash) or coins in circulation. When we actually print new money, it is only to replace old money we've shredded and burned due to damage or obsolescence. "Printing money" is a figure of Speech. It is always simply 0s on each side of a balance sheet and codes in a computer. Paper currency hasn't been backed by gold since 1971, even in theory. It was hypothecated and devalued long before that (starting at the 1913 Federal Reserve Act).