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If you ever want a proof that the market can be utterly irrational, look no further than: > The arrival of lab-grown diamonds has challenged the widely-held as
by vanderZwan 9y ago
If you ever want a proof that the market can be utterly irrational, look no further than:
> The arrival of lab-grown diamonds has challenged the widely-held assumption that diamond prices could only go up
- megaman22 9y agoI guess if there's no blood on your diamond, it isn't real...
- aaron695 9y agoJust like a drawing done by a random child is exactly the same as a drawing done by your own child? Of course it isn't real if it's missing blood, a stupid cliche with a movie to boot, but I'll run with it. Yes where it comes from matters. How it's made matters. We are not children in philosophy 101. The history counts.
- pjc50 9y agoSomeone should tell the bitcoin people.
- lawlessone 9y agoBut now we can make more diamonds :) there will never be more than 21 million bitcoin
- adbachman 9y agoUntil the next fork! Then there will never be more than 42 million bitcoin.
- zhte415 9y ago;) Until the nexr coin. And the next one. Etc...
- tsaoyu 9y agoGreat business idea. Here is the freshly made AD[1]. Curious to see if there is any business plan follow ups. [1](https://i.imgur.com/oD50taU.png https://i.imgur.com/oD50taU.png)
- sduclos 9y agoPriceless! So, a real diamond of fake value is used to engrave fake value of real bitcoin .. or something .. xkcd material!
- tzahola 9y agoSynthetic bitcoins when?
- pjc50 9y agoThat's what all these altcoins and ICOs are.
- kalcode 9y agoFeel like diamonds are such a great example for the 'a free-market' people. They typically argue that in a truly free-market everything is better. Well diamond trade exists largely in a free market until it hits some of the countries they sell in but before that we basically have blood being spilt over them and companies existing outside of strong regulated countries to funnel the diamonds into and control the price. A truly free-market seems very scary in a modern world.
- ameister14 9y agoA truly free market requires complete transparency, something the diamond market has historically lacked.
- vanderZwan 9y agoYes, but a lot of free market proponents seem to ignore that transparency in markets doesn't just happen. There is no "invisible hand" guiding that.
- ancap 9y agoI disagree. I think in a lot of cases buyers should or would demand transparency (ie. has this house ever been flooded?), but I don't think it's a strict requirement in the broad sense you may be implying. Transparency can be subjective. For example, a person sells 100 shares of ACME stock to a savvy buyer. A short time later the stock triples in value, and the seller sues the buyer because they were not "completely transparent" about their knowledge that the stock would rise. Of course, in all of this I am not talking about deliberate fraud which would be strictly forbidden in a free market.
- ameister14 9y agoI was talking about market transparency; it's more like the person selling the shares sells them to one person at a discount and another person at a high price. For a free market to function, the buyer would need to know the other prices people have paid for the same goods. If you don't have that, a free market can't work well. When you buy something in a free market, you should know its quality, characteristics and the price on the market. You should also know its provenance, relative supply and transport/marketing cost. That's transparency. It lets you buy things and make the most efficient choices, which is why it's fundamental for a free market.