Elon Musk made the bombshell claim that the federal government has at least 14 “magic money computers” that he said create cash out of thin air to make payments.
The world’s richest man and head of the Department of Government Efficiency made the assertion on a Monday episode of the “Verdict” podcast with host Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas.
“One of the things you told me about is what you called magic money computers,” Cruz told Musk. “Tell us about it, because I never heard of that until you brought that up.”
Musk explained he was referring to “any computer which can just make money out of thin air — that’s magic money.”
Cruz asked, “How does that work?”
Musk answered, “It just issues payments!”
According to Musk and Cruz, those payments are in the trillions, and the “magic money machines” exist at multiple agencies.
“They’re mostly at the Treasury, some are at HHS, one or two at State, there’s some at DOD, I think we’ve found 14 magic money computers,” Musk continued.
“They just send money out of nothing,” he emphasized.
An absolute bombshell from @elonmusk on the latest episode of Verdict.
He reveals there are 14 magic money computers in the federal government that send money out of nothing.
Don’t miss the latest episode of Verdict wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now!… pic.twitter.com/1tnJmJtiw9
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 17, 2025
Several commenters noted on social media that the “magic money computers” actually align with the principles of Modern Monetary Theory, also known as MMT.
That framework claims governments with control over their fiat currency, like the United States, are not restrained by revenue or borrowing, but can instead merely spend money into existence.
The primary limit on spending, according to MMT, is inflation, rather than insolvency.
Nathan J. Robinson, the editor of Current Affairs, indeed responded that “Ted Cruz and Elon Musk discover the bombshell fact that MMT is true.”
“They’re actually kinda correct,” an account called The Debt Collective meanwhile argued.
“The federal government issues money out of thin air,” the account claimed. “It’s not like a household that needs to have a dollar before spending it.”
“The gov is the ‘issuer’ of the dollar — so it creates it. We can either use it to pay for healthcare or fund wars overseas.”
But Arthur Laffer, a prominent conservative economist, and Stephen Moore, a visiting fellow for economics at the Heritage Foundation, warned last year that MMT is “obviously silly.”
Are you surprised that these ‘magic money machines’ exist?
Yes: 25% (3 Votes)
No: 75% (9 Votes)
“Proponents posit that because the dollar is the world reserve currency and the Treasury can sell bonds at low interest rates, Uncle Sam can spend and borrow limitlessly with no economic risk,” they wrote.
Laffer and Moore countered that “history is littered with nations that tried to spend and borrow their way to prosperity: ancient Rome, interwar Germany, Argentina, postwar Britain, and more recently Bolivia, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Greece and Venezuela.”
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