But in truth it had not exactly been gold, or even the promise of gold, but more like the fantasy of gold, the fairy dream that the gold is there, at the end of the rainbow, and will continue to be there for ever provided, naturally, that you don’t go and look.
This is known as Finance.
– Terry Pratchett
And when banks give out loans they don’t have to actually have the money to ‘give’ they just invent money. And expect you to pay it back…with interest.