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The interesting thing is that this is what a real free market looks like. This is what any market would look like without being rigged by governments and gover

The interesting thing is that this is what a real free market looks like. This is what any market would look like without being rigged by governments and government backed institutions. Bitcoin may be the best proof yet of how deeply flawed the libertarian free market ideology really is.

splintercell 9y ago
> Bitcoin may be the best proof yet of how deeply flawed the libertarian free market ideology really is. The price of gold isn't stable because the visible hand of the govt has stabilized it, or if there is any law which protects it. If you have convinced yourself that this is the reason why it is stable, then you're drinking your own kool aide. The price of gold, or any currency is stable because its market has been discovered, and huge financial assets have been created which allow people to profit off it's price movements, which results in price stability. Even with that, Gold market can move up and down quite drastically, for instance when in 2009 and 2010 by 25% and 30% respectively, then dropped by 27% in 2013. The reason why price of Bitcoin moves so much up and down because it's true market hasn't realized yet, once it does, it's price will stabilize too. No govt can make it happen.
- xenadu02 9y ago
  Gold and silver aren't stable, they fluctuate all the time just at long timescales compared to humans. When the Comstock Lode was discovered it massively affected the price of silver. Similarly when Spain stole Aztec gold it caused changes in the value of gold. If someone ever manages to mine asteroids for gold or we discover a previously unknown reserve we'll see more price shocks. I don't know where you got the idea that the supply of gold was stable; it is merely inflexible because it depends on physically digging it out of the dirt.
oreo81 9y ago
Flawed? How so?
specialist 9y ago
Which markets exist without the protections provided by governments? Protections in the form of contract law, fair and impartial judiciary, notions of property (ownership)...
- ric2b 9y ago
  Bitcoin is one of them. It works without government protection.
raiyu 9y ago
A corollary is to say that this is what free markets look like when driven by greed. We can't just blanket say that any government interaction with a market is negative. Sure many aspects are. But there are positives as well. If you look at the housing crisis that occurred that was because the market was becoming unregulated over time and because fraud was allowed to flourish. That was then coupled with human greed and it wasn't entirely the government or the banks faults either, because if regular people weren't going out to buy houses to make money doing nothing, then there wouldn't be such a huge collapse. At the end of the day it's all the same. People want to get rich doing nothing and any opportunity to do so brings out the greed in individuals. If there weren't some winners in this equation, especially winners that you can relate to, then people wouldn't join in. But when an everyday person makes money this way then everyone starts thinking, well that person isn't special, why can't I do the same? More often than not the early investors are the ones that reap the profits and hope to exit on time, while those entering the game late are the ones most likely to incur losses.

splintercell 9y ago

> Bitcoin may be the best proof yet of how deeply flawed the libertarian free market ideology really is. The price of gold isn't stable because the visible hand of the govt has stabilized it, or if there is any law which protects it. If you have convinced yourself that this is the reason why it is stable, then you're drinking your own kool aide. The price of gold, or any currency is stable because its market has been discovered, and huge financial assets have been created which allow people to profit off it's price movements, which results in price stability. Even with that, Gold market can move up and down quite drastically, for instance when in 2009 and 2010 by 25% and 30% respectively, then dropped by 27% in 2013. The reason why price of Bitcoin moves so much up and down because it's true market hasn't realized yet, once it does, it's price will stabilize too. No govt can make it happen.

xenadu02 9y ago
Gold and silver aren't stable, they fluctuate all the time just at long timescales compared to humans. When the Comstock Lode was discovered it massively affected the price of silver. Similarly when Spain stole Aztec gold it caused changes in the value of gold. If someone ever manages to mine asteroids for gold or we discover a previously unknown reserve we'll see more price shocks. I don't know where you got the idea that the supply of gold was stable; it is merely inflexible because it depends on physically digging it out of the dirt.

oreo81 9y ago

Flawed? How so?

specialist 9y ago

Which markets exist without the protections provided by governments? Protections in the form of contract law, fair and impartial judiciary, notions of property (ownership)...

ric2b 9y ago
Bitcoin is one of them. It works without government protection.

raiyu 9y ago

A corollary is to say that this is what free markets look like when driven by greed. We can't just blanket say that any government interaction with a market is negative. Sure many aspects are. But there are positives as well. If you look at the housing crisis that occurred that was because the market was becoming unregulated over time and because fraud was allowed to flourish. That was then coupled with human greed and it wasn't entirely the government or the banks faults either, because if regular people weren't going out to buy houses to make money doing nothing, then there wouldn't be such a huge collapse. At the end of the day it's all the same. People want to get rich doing nothing and any opportunity to do so brings out the greed in individuals. If there weren't some winners in this equation, especially winners that you can relate to, then people wouldn't join in. But when an everyday person makes money this way then everyone starts thinking, well that person isn't special, why can't I do the same? More often than not the early investors are the ones that reap the profits and hope to exit on time, while those entering the game late are the ones most likely to incur losses.