I don't. It distorts the real value of money by being able to readily print and devalue the currency, makes credit where there aren't real resources to back up the expenditures, causes inflation by having too much money chasing too many goods, discourages saving through inflation and artificially lowering the interest rate, makes easy credit that makes it easier to get into debt, both for the people and the government, prevents depositors from punishing banks through bank runs, and on and on and on. I can't think of a single real benefit central banking gives, but I can think of plenty of ill it causes.
I don't. It distorts the real value of money by being able to readily print and devalue the currency, makes credit where there aren't real resources to back up the expenditures, causes inflation by having too much money chasing too many goods, discourages saving through inflation and artificially lowering the interest rate, makes easy credit that makes it easier to get into debt, both for the people and the government, prevents depositors from punishing banks through bank runs, and on and on and on. I can't think of a single real benefit central banking gives, but I can think of plenty of ill it causes.
Well, actually the printing of money and the "crowding out" effect are products of the national Treasury and its government; crowding out occurs when the government runs deficits that require the sale of bonds to finance. Central banks can help by counteracting some of the money flowing in to the economy from the government and thereby reducing the effect that deficits or surpluses may have on the money supply. It smooths out the business cycle.
A big benefit of central banking is that it has control over the sale/purchase of bonds to control the money supply. By adjusting the interest rate, the central bank can keep growth stable and inflation under control resulting in healthier economic growth and rises in real income. It also controls the reserve ratio and has a supply of funds on hand to keep smaller banks from going under like they did in the 1920's. Preventing bank runs is a huge benefit to our economy; the worst bank panics caused GDP to contract by a quarter and unemployment to soar to 25-30%, and they were also partially responsible for the domino effect that
A high savings rate is not necessarily desirable; less money spent is less money going in to the production of goods and services, which means slower economic growth and rising unemployment. People should spend what they can afford; if they can manage a high debt load and zero savings, then all the more power to them. However, the rise in debt is not due to cheap credit or central banking, it's due to people wanting more things than they can afford; that's more a product of personal decisions and culture than anything else.
I don't think it's coincidental that the economy is more stable, real income is higher, inflation is steadier and unemployment is lower compared to the time before central banking.