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This is one of the things about bitcoin nobody has ever explained to me adequately. Governments use monetary policy & other economic tools to regulate the econo

by Jedi72 9y ago

This is one of the things about bitcoin nobody has ever explained to me adequately. Governments use monetary policy & other economic tools to regulate the economy. Assuming we're all Keynsians here, this is a pretty important feature that govts will not give up, so how is Bitcoin ever supposed to supplant fiat currency?

crypt1d 9y ago
The idea of Bitcoin replacing fiat is a vision, not a plan. People assume, or just like to believe, that as Bitcoin adoption grows, the advantages of Bitcoin will far surpass fiat and people will gradually start moving to it as a de facto currency. This will/would be an organic process, likely to last a few decades at least.
davidiach 9y ago
Bitcoin is a threat to the Keynesian model. That said, it still has a long way to go in order to take over fiat currency.
simias 9y ago
I think many of the Bitcoin fans[1] are also in favor of the gold standard. They don't want the government to be able to "print money". Actually I just noticed that the Wikipedia page on the gold standard has a section about bitcoin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard#Gold_standard_and_Bitcoin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard#Gold_standard_an... [1] At those who bother to think about the long term economic consequences of Bitcoin instead of just trying to Get Rich Quick.
- namelost 9y ago
  I'd disagree. What Bitcoin fans want is "digital gold", not the gold standard. The gold standard is a system where paper currency is backed by a guarantee that it is redeemable for a given amount of gold. Of course the govt can rescind this promise at any time. What Bitcoin fans want is something more akin to gold coins, where the value of the currency is independent of any state.
  - simias 9y ago
    Fair enough, but effectively it has the same economical implications as the gold standard, except maybe made stronger by the fact that the government can't do anything at all to change the way it works, doesn't it? I think the pro and cons of the gold standard (as listed by Wikipedia) seem to apply fairly well to the Bitcoin economy.
- davidgerard 9y ago
  Literally. Bitcoin politics is goldbug politics with the buzzword changed. https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/the-conspiracist-gold-bug-economics-of-bitcoin/ https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/the-conspiracist-gold-b... The key book nailing down every dot of this is "The Politics of Bitcoin" by David Golumbia. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1517901804/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1517901804/
deleted 9y ago
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by Jedi72 9y ago

crypt1d 9y ago

The idea of Bitcoin replacing fiat is a vision, not a plan. People assume, or just like to believe, that as Bitcoin adoption grows, the advantages of Bitcoin will far surpass fiat and people will gradually start moving to it as a de facto currency. This will/would be an organic process, likely to last a few decades at least.

davidiach 9y ago

Bitcoin is a threat to the Keynesian model. That said, it still has a long way to go in order to take over fiat currency.

simias 9y ago

I think many of the Bitcoin fans[1] are also in favor of the gold standard. They don't want the government to be able to "print money". Actually I just noticed that the Wikipedia page on the gold standard has a section about bitcoin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard#Gold_standard_and_Bitcoin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard#Gold_standard_an... [1] At those who bother to think about the long term economic consequences of Bitcoin instead of just trying to Get Rich Quick.

namelost 9y ago
I'd disagree. What Bitcoin fans want is "digital gold", not the gold standard. The gold standard is a system where paper currency is backed by a guarantee that it is redeemable for a given amount of gold. Of course the govt can rescind this promise at any time. What Bitcoin fans want is something more akin to gold coins, where the value of the currency is independent of any state.
- simias 9y ago
  Fair enough, but effectively it has the same economical implications as the gold standard, except maybe made stronger by the fact that the government can't do anything at all to change the way it works, doesn't it? I think the pro and cons of the gold standard (as listed by Wikipedia) seem to apply fairly well to the Bitcoin economy.
davidgerard 9y ago
Literally. Bitcoin politics is goldbug politics with the buzzword changed. https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/the-conspiracist-gold-bug-economics-of-bitcoin/ https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/the-conspiracist-gold-b... The key book nailing down every dot of this is "The Politics of Bitcoin" by David Golumbia. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1517901804/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1517901804/

deleted 9y ago

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