Printing money (or more precisely, expanding the money supply) isn't automatically inflationary if it's roughly matched by growth in the actual goods and services the economy produces — the problem arises specifically when money supply grows much faster than real output. Governments sometimes accept the inflation risk anyway because the alternative (e.g., during a crisis) — mass unemployment, business collapses, or an inability to fund essential services — is judged to be worse in the short term, even though excessive money creation carries real long-term costs if left unchecked.