The printing of money in the sense that a government in investing in it's future , by buying it's own bonds or monetary instruments , in order to sustain a weak recovery , due to a recession caused by reckless borrowing and spending for wars ( Bush Wars ) over with , is , in IMHO , a fair trade off compared to irresponsible and misguided economic policies that necessitate the printing of money due to out of control inflationary policies , that are a far cry from helping society in any way , except to make things much more difficult for the poorest of the population.
As for Europe , austerity policies , while desperately needed , hinder the average people from spending money , in order to stimulate the economy. It is a balance they are trying to accomplish , without much success.
Whomever succeeds this current government is going to have a hell of a mess to clean up.