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The best criticism I've seen on Bitcoin is, by far, Paul Krugman's "Bitcoin is Evil" [1]. In essence: Bitcoin doesn't have "monetary policy" to regulate it's su

The best criticism I've seen on Bitcoin is, by far, Paul Krugman's "Bitcoin is Evil" [1]. In essence: Bitcoin doesn't have "monetary policy" to regulate it's supply. That's why it is prone to speculative bubbles and very dangerous as money. [1] https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/bitcoin-is-evil/ https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/bitcoin-is-evil...

lend000 9y ago
Painful to read. Paul Krugman is a laughing stock in the crypto-world, which he has been wrong about so confidently, so many times. As an aside, the US had active monetary policy for about a century, and it has enjoyed plenty of bubbles and crashes. Some of those were worsened by monetary policy (e.g. easy money in the early 1920's swapped to deflationary monetary policy in 1929 as soon as the easy money bubble popped, low interest rates fueling real estate speculation in the early 2000's, etc.)
- pseudonom- 9y ago
  Can you give an overview of or pointers to critiques? My prior is that Krugman is more likely to by correct than the average crypto person, even after adjusting for interest in and attention to crypto.
  - lend000 9y ago
    For a celebrated economist, Krugman has a poor grasp of certain facets of economics. It's probably a subconscious way of rectifying his political views, which many of us are guilty of. In this case, he does not understand how Bitcoin can be a store of value, because it is not backed by a government. How come gold or any other commodity has value? Value it what the market decides, not the government. He obviously did not understand the intrinsic value the technology provides, which previous media of exchange do not provide, such as immutability and full control of funds. He is happy to pass judgment without understanding the technology.
    - the_gastropod 9y ago
      How are immutability and “full control of funds” intrinsically valuable?
      - max_ 9y ago
        That's like asking why laws firms & and security agencies exist.
        the_gastropod 9y ago
        Intrinsic value has a well-understood meaning in economics. Bitcoin, like any currency, has no intrinsic value, regardless of these neat features.
        lend000 9y ago
        > Intrinsic value has a well-understood meaning in economics. Bitcoin, like any currency, has no intrinsic value, regardless of these neat features. I don't think you understand the definition of intrinsic value -- it has nothing to do with being physical: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intrinsicvalue.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intrinsicvalue.asp Key quote: "The intrinsic value is the actual value of a company or an asset based on an underlying perception of its true value including all aspects of the business, in terms of both tangible and intangible factors.
        the_gastropod 9y ago
        Where did I imply intrinsic value requires physical presence? Businesses produce cash flow, and therefore ownership stakes (stocks) have intrinsic value. Gold is used in manufacturing and has an intrinsic value (lower than its traded value). Bitcoin has 0 intrinsic value. This is not a slight against Bitcoin, it's just a property of most currencies. Bitcoin is no exception. A good thought experiment for whether something has intrinsic value is: would <thing> still be useful if nobody else on the planet wanted it? A share in a business would continue paying out dividends, and would absolutely be useful. A dollar bill would be useless (especially if it's an electronic dollar). A bitcoin would also be absolutely useless.
- y_u_no_rust 9y ago
  I've found economists on the whole to be very intelligent but narrow minded, hell look at Rubin I respect Krugman but his words are not gospel even though they can be meaningful/insightful money in general is evil
DINKDINK 9y ago
> Bitcoin doesn't have "monetary policy" to regulate it's supply Actually it has the best monetary policy: it's supply is inherently regulated and prescribed: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply. Intellectual-yet-idiot Krugman is a Kardashian of the economic's world. Popular because he is popular, nothing more. "Economists" should take a note from the medical profession: First do no harm. AKA unless there is a extraordinarily compelling motivation, the best course of action is no action. We have spent the last 100 years in a system where the very base layer of our economy, the currency, was cooped for social engineering. "Wouldn't we all be better off if we made the cost of lending almost 0?" -> Housing bubble. If Wizard's of Oz are constantly mutating the value of money and lending the only people who can prosper are the Wizards (politicians) and the Bankers. The last 50 years of economic prosperity make that evident.
- jhiska 9y ago
  "Intellectual-yet-idiot" is remarkably like the phrase "educated stupid" from Time Cube fame.
- johnny22 9y ago
  You can't just meme your way through a conversation. This just reads you're spouting other people's words here without actually understanding them.
netsharc 9y ago
You gotta love that the 2 responders to Krugman is to call him an idiot who's been wrong many times, and a Kardashian. But I'll just reply to your post because I don't feel like engaging with the brainwashed.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

lend000 9y ago

Painful to read. Paul Krugman is a laughing stock in the crypto-world, which he has been wrong about so confidently, so many times. As an aside, the US had active monetary policy for about a century, and it has enjoyed plenty of bubbles and crashes. Some of those were worsened by monetary policy (e.g. easy money in the early 1920's swapped to deflationary monetary policy in 1929 as soon as the easy money bubble popped, low interest rates fueling real estate speculation in the early 2000's, etc.)

pseudonom- 9y ago
Can you give an overview of or pointers to critiques? My prior is that Krugman is more likely to by correct than the average crypto person, even after adjusting for interest in and attention to crypto.
- lend000 9y ago
  For a celebrated economist, Krugman has a poor grasp of certain facets of economics. It's probably a subconscious way of rectifying his political views, which many of us are guilty of. In this case, he does not understand how Bitcoin can be a store of value, because it is not backed by a government. How come gold or any other commodity has value? Value it what the market decides, not the government. He obviously did not understand the intrinsic value the technology provides, which previous media of exchange do not provide, such as immutability and full control of funds. He is happy to pass judgment without understanding the technology.
  - the_gastropod 9y ago
    How are immutability and “full control of funds” intrinsically valuable?
    - max_ 9y ago
      That's like asking why laws firms & and security agencies exist.
      - the_gastropod 9y ago
        Intrinsic value has a well-understood meaning in economics. Bitcoin, like any currency, has no intrinsic value, regardless of these neat features.
        lend000 9y ago
        > Intrinsic value has a well-understood meaning in economics. Bitcoin, like any currency, has no intrinsic value, regardless of these neat features. I don't think you understand the definition of intrinsic value -- it has nothing to do with being physical: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intrinsicvalue.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intrinsicvalue.asp Key quote: "The intrinsic value is the actual value of a company or an asset based on an underlying perception of its true value including all aspects of the business, in terms of both tangible and intangible factors.
        the_gastropod 9y ago
        Where did I imply intrinsic value requires physical presence? Businesses produce cash flow, and therefore ownership stakes (stocks) have intrinsic value. Gold is used in manufacturing and has an intrinsic value (lower than its traded value). Bitcoin has 0 intrinsic value. This is not a slight against Bitcoin, it's just a property of most currencies. Bitcoin is no exception. A good thought experiment for whether something has intrinsic value is: would <thing> still be useful if nobody else on the planet wanted it? A share in a business would continue paying out dividends, and would absolutely be useful. A dollar bill would be useless (especially if it's an electronic dollar). A bitcoin would also be absolutely useless.
y_u_no_rust 9y ago
I've found economists on the whole to be very intelligent but narrow minded, hell look at Rubin I respect Krugman but his words are not gospel even though they can be meaningful/insightful money in general is evil

DINKDINK 9y ago

> Bitcoin doesn't have "monetary policy" to regulate it's supply Actually it has the best monetary policy: it's supply is inherently regulated and prescribed: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply. Intellectual-yet-idiot Krugman is a Kardashian of the economic's world. Popular because he is popular, nothing more. "Economists" should take a note from the medical profession: First do no harm. AKA unless there is a extraordinarily compelling motivation, the best course of action is no action. We have spent the last 100 years in a system where the very base layer of our economy, the currency, was cooped for social engineering. "Wouldn't we all be better off if we made the cost of lending almost 0?" -> Housing bubble. If Wizard's of Oz are constantly mutating the value of money and lending the only people who can prosper are the Wizards (politicians) and the Bankers. The last 50 years of economic prosperity make that evident.

jhiska 9y ago
"Intellectual-yet-idiot" is remarkably like the phrase "educated stupid" from Time Cube fame.
johnny22 9y ago
You can't just meme your way through a conversation. This just reads you're spouting other people's words here without actually understanding them.

netsharc 9y ago

You gotta love that the 2 responders to Krugman is to call him an idiot who's been wrong many times, and a Kardashian. But I'll just reply to your post because I don't feel like engaging with the brainwashed.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]