"the government seems to show less and less restraint in exchange for instant gratification and short term benefits"

I'm not sure whether you're talking about raising the rates or reducing them. But the idea that reducing rates is just instant gratification is just false. The rates simply dictate how willing banks will be to loan money out. It's a tool. Countries have used this to spur foreign demand of their goods for years. Portugal Italy and Greece used to do it all the time. Once they joined the Euro and they were no longer able to inflate at will, their economies tanked.

It's better to think of money like shares. The total amount of shares outstanding doesn't really affect much... it's the relative proportions that people control and the percentage of equity that those shares represent that matters.