You did everyone a real service by posting this. For years I had trouble wrapping my head around this concept. For some reason my brain could not absorb it. Once I got it, years ago, it finally stuck.
Yes, it still doesn't "stick" for me. Whenever I see a headline about the bond market, or the Fed's balance sheet, or debt monetization, I get confused because I've forgotten how the market works and what these terms mean. But I made a google doc where I list common "headline templates" re: the bond market and for each one I give an explanation to myself of what that headline would mean, linking to explainers that I've found helpful in the past. That way, when I do see a headline that matches one of my templates, I can refer to my own explanation to help me figure it out. It helps a lot! I recommend readers do something similar if they too find this stuff confusing.
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