How does new money enter into circulation in the United States?

New money enters into circulation in the United States primarily through the actions of the Federal Reserve, which is the central bank of the country. When the Federal Reserve creates new money, it typically does so by conducting open market operations, where it buys government securities from banks. This process adds reserves to those banks, enabling them to lend more money. As banks lend this new money to consumers and businesses, it circulates through the economy. Therefore, the distribution mechanism relies heavily on financial institutions, which receive the money from the Federal Reserve and subsequently make it available to the public through loans and credit.

The other options do not accurately reflect the standard process by which new money enters circulation. For instance, while tax refunds are indeed distributed to taxpayers, they do not represent a mechanism for introducing new money into the economy but rather a redistribution of existing funds. Similarly, large businesses cannot use the Federal Reserve simply to exchange old money for new; rather, their interactions with the Fed revolve around broader financial operations and monetary policy. Lastly, the FDIC is primarily concerned with bank deposit insurance and does not play a role in the direct distribution of new money to stockholders or as a result of insurance claims.