An almost guaranteed 6% year after year from the same principal is a very decent investment. It's not paltry. It's not huge, but it's not paltry either. Getting a return on investment is fine; the problem is that the big banks get their 6% first in front of the line and the American government only gets the leftover profit after that, and the more fundamental problem is: Why are big banks needed to be involved at all anyway in the first place? Why can't the Federal Reserve just be a big credit union and manage the money supply that way?