Bonds are simply an asset swap that offers the purchaser the option of relinquishing reserve liquidity for a future payment with a small dividend. The government must create the reserves before they can be used to make that purchase, creating debt in the process. Treasury bonds reduce the debt by their purchase price until they mature and are recapitalized at their face value with new money creation. Remember that their original purpose was to defend the gold reserve, which they did by “canceling” money against the debt/deficit for a specific term.