It's Only Monetizing Debt if it's Done Permanently

Amazing, absolutely amazing.  I'll let Ben speak for himself:

"By buying securities, are you "monetizing the debt"--printing money for the government to use--and will that inevitably lead to higher inflation? No, that's not what is happening, and that will not happen. Monetizing the debt means using money creation as a permanent source of financing for government spending. In contrast, we are acquiring Treasury securities on the open market and only on a temporary basis, with the goal of supporting the economic recovery through lower interest rates. At the appropriate time, the Federal Reserve will gradually sell these securities or let them mature, as needed, to return its balance sheet to a more normal size."

Full text:  http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20121001a.htm

As a follow up question, perhaps we should ask if this will work the same way with the nearly 1T in MBS purchases.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/Current/