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Is that so much different from FED? In theory there is some dependency on US President, but that just a theory, practice shows that private banks owners are muc

Is that so much different from FED? In theory there is some dependency on US President, but that just a theory, practice shows that private banks owners are much more influential. Not that I like or trust Facebook or its owner, but maybe Libra will introduce some competition. For instance Libra might not suffer from inflation (which is just a tax on people savings), this could be much better way to store savings than fiat currencies.

codyb 7y ago
The Fed has very specific mandates, has several branches, and releases tons of really quality monetary information online. There’s no stock they’re beholden too, or billionaire boy genius running the entire operation, and they certainly don’t hold vast troves of information on billions of people. It’s a positive they’re divorced from politics, and they’ve done a pretty decent job keeping the USD a trusted currency for use nationally and around the globe with a track record approaching a hundred years. I’d say the Fed and Facebook are quite different.
- CaptainZapp 7y ago
  And it's not only the Fed. You have, for example, the ECB, The Bank of England, The Swiss National Bank, etc, etc. All much, much more trustworthy institutions than any of those companies involved into the Libra project. And especially more trustworthy than Facebook could ever be.
- 0x445442 7y ago
  You forgot the part about being able to conjure money out of thin air, loaning the conjured money and then collecting interest on the loaned money. Decentralized, open ledgers are the future and these folks are terrified their Golden Goose's days are numbered. And of course there's the implications the current system, and the push to get rid of cash, has on personal freedoms.
  - delfinom 7y ago
    Except Libra's entire scam was a. It was backed by the fiat put in b. They would collect all interest on the fiat for themselves, users did not see any kind of interest for holding the balance
    - 0x445442 7y ago
      Yeah, I'm not advocating Libra, just blockchains and crypto in general.
  - codyb 7y ago
    Except you can’t just conjure money up out of thin air while also doing a good job with your mandate of keeping inflation low. This is such a silly argument that really holds no water in the real world.
- narrator 7y ago
  Yes, the FED is a government organization. It's a government organization that creates money out of nothing and issues 6% dividends to its shareholders: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20161123a.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcre...
AlexandrB 7y ago
Libra is supposed to be backed by a basket of fiat currencies, all of which are subject to inflation. How could Libra possibly be exempt from inflation?
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > Libra is supposed to be backed by a basket of fiat currencies, all of which are subject to inflation. How could Libra possibly be exempt from inflation? By the backer continuously increasing the backing ratio at not less than the average rate of inflation of the backing currencies.
  - AlexandrB 7y ago
    Ok... I mean that's technically plausible, but why would any commercial entity do this? Isn't it the equivalent of throwing money into a fire? Has Facebook made any indication they're going to do this?
    - dragonwriter 7y ago
      > I mean that's technically plausible, but why would any commercial entity do this? To promote the ecosystem as inflation-resistant, and encourage it's use. > Isn't it the equivalent of throwing money into a fire? Not any more than, e.g., offering a high-interest savings account is.
      - bpt3 7y ago
        How is offering high-interest savings the equivalent of throwing money into a fire? A bank offers higher interest than competitors to attract more deposits, which it lends out (with leverage) at a higher interest rate than what it pays to depositors.
tracker1 7y ago
There are MANY people who would like to see the FED disbanded and a US Bank brought into play as well.

codyb 7y ago

The Fed has very specific mandates, has several branches, and releases tons of really quality monetary information online. There’s no stock they’re beholden too, or billionaire boy genius running the entire operation, and they certainly don’t hold vast troves of information on billions of people. It’s a positive they’re divorced from politics, and they’ve done a pretty decent job keeping the USD a trusted currency for use nationally and around the globe with a track record approaching a hundred years. I’d say the Fed and Facebook are quite different.

CaptainZapp 7y ago
And it's not only the Fed. You have, for example, the ECB, The Bank of England, The Swiss National Bank, etc, etc. All much, much more trustworthy institutions than any of those companies involved into the Libra project. And especially more trustworthy than Facebook could ever be.
0x445442 7y ago
You forgot the part about being able to conjure money out of thin air, loaning the conjured money and then collecting interest on the loaned money. Decentralized, open ledgers are the future and these folks are terrified their Golden Goose's days are numbered. And of course there's the implications the current system, and the push to get rid of cash, has on personal freedoms.
- delfinom 7y ago
  Except Libra's entire scam was a. It was backed by the fiat put in b. They would collect all interest on the fiat for themselves, users did not see any kind of interest for holding the balance
  - 0x445442 7y ago
    Yeah, I'm not advocating Libra, just blockchains and crypto in general.
- codyb 7y ago
  Except you can’t just conjure money up out of thin air while also doing a good job with your mandate of keeping inflation low. This is such a silly argument that really holds no water in the real world.
narrator 7y ago
Yes, the FED is a government organization. It's a government organization that creates money out of nothing and issues 6% dividends to its shareholders: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20161123a.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcre...

AlexandrB 7y ago

Libra is supposed to be backed by a basket of fiat currencies, all of which are subject to inflation. How could Libra possibly be exempt from inflation?

dragonwriter 7y ago
> Libra is supposed to be backed by a basket of fiat currencies, all of which are subject to inflation. How could Libra possibly be exempt from inflation? By the backer continuously increasing the backing ratio at not less than the average rate of inflation of the backing currencies.
- AlexandrB 7y ago
  Ok... I mean that's technically plausible, but why would any commercial entity do this? Isn't it the equivalent of throwing money into a fire? Has Facebook made any indication they're going to do this?
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    > I mean that's technically plausible, but why would any commercial entity do this? To promote the ecosystem as inflation-resistant, and encourage it's use. > Isn't it the equivalent of throwing money into a fire? Not any more than, e.g., offering a high-interest savings account is.
    - bpt3 7y ago
      How is offering high-interest savings the equivalent of throwing money into a fire? A bank offers higher interest than competitors to attract more deposits, which it lends out (with leverage) at a higher interest rate than what it pays to depositors.

tracker1 7y ago

There are MANY people who would like to see the FED disbanded and a US Bank brought into play as well.