system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is the difference between China's "devaluing currency" and America's "quantitative easing?"

Don't they both just involve using monetary policy as an economic stimulus (i.e. printing money)? It feels like politician doublespeak to me.
gpt
Actually, neither one involves the literal printing of money. The Chinese have a fixed exchange rate and peg the Yuan to the US Dollar. With the devaluing, they moved the peg and now accept fewer dollars per yuan. This was done to make their goods cheaper in the U.S. with the hope that Americans will buy more stuff.  
  
The Fed cannot print money, only the Treasury can do that. The purpose of QE was to increase the ability of banks to lend money by taking bonds the banks held and issuing an offsetting credit to the banks in exchange. This had the effect of increasing the bank's cash on hand. While the Fed did not print any paper dollars, they created digital credit out of thin air, which has the same effect as printing dollars. Keep in mind most "money" in circulation are digital entries, not paper dollars.