This entire comments section reminds me of every econ discussion I've seen on the web for the past 25 years: wall-to-wall hubris. So, allow me to throw two more tires on this fire:
"The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."
"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance."
> Central banks may issue cash but banks can issue credit based on someone else's debts.
If you mean deposits, then you're describing fractional reserve banking, and the central bank sets the reserve ratio for those commercial banks, thus the central bank is still in control.
> increasing the money supply steals money (the value of money) from everyone's checking account over the long term.
It's worse than that.
If inflation was uniform and instantaneous, expanding the money supply would just result in a corresponding change in all prices and account balances. It'd be like trying to redefine the litre in order to get more gas from the pump. As such, the state wouldn't bother trying to change it.
Inflation "works" insofar as it allows those who receive the new money earlier to buy goods before the suppliers realize their prices are too low for the new money supply, and in so doing drive up the prices faced by those who receive the new money later. The aggregate effect is to transfer money from those who receive the money last to those that receive it first (banks, financial institutions, forex, etc.)
"The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."
"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance."