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The Soviet economy had a substantial black market, especially if you include the Blat system of favor-trading [1]. New York today is seeing growth of ostensibly

The Soviet economy had a substantial black market, especially if you include the Blat system of favor-trading [1]. New York today is seeing growth of ostensibly illegal, unlicensed street vendors, in reaction to lockdown restrictions [2]. Government is not efficient, and cannot effectively enforce rules, so cryptocurrency will undoubtedly survive. [1] https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rees-577-fall2016/2016/10/18/the-importance-of-blats-in-soviet-everyday-life/ https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rees-577-fall2016/2016/... [2] https://nypost.com/2020/12/26/mayhem-in-the-streets-illegal-vendors-are-overtaking-nyc/ https://nypost.com/2020/12/26/mayhem-in-the-streets-illegal-...

gabereiser 6y ago
I agree with this at the macro level. It’s easy for a government to strong arm an individual into regulation, a small company even. When the markets themselves shift, that’s when government is going to have a hard time regulating. Crypto, good and bad, is here to stay because government is slow to respond to shifts. What’s going to be interesting to see is how this government regulations vs the people’s needs play out. The street vendors are suppling a demand, there’s a need, illegal vending or not.
logifail 6y ago
> Government [..] cannot effectively enforce rules Counter-example: pick any one of the (new) rules that are currently being enforced due to C19? Government may not be efficient, but from time to time may just be efficient enough to catch you and/or punish you. Shameless movie quote: "You've got to ask yourself a question: 'do I feel lucky?'"
- sildur 6y ago
  Paraphrasing another movie quote: "with everyone criminal, no one will be".
  - logifail 6y ago
    > with everyone [..] Hmm, "everyone"? Q: What proportion of Bitcoin holders are actually using as an approximate alternative to fiat currency (regularly purchasing real life stuff using Bitcoin) vs holding and hoping to get rich?
boogies 6y ago
> Government is not efficient, and cannot effectively enforce rules, so cryptocurrency will undoubtedly survive. So true, they can’t even keep prohibited drugs from being smuggled onto their government spacecraft by hand-picked government (cosmo|astro)nauts. https://reason.com/2021/01/01/space-the-final-smuggling-frontier/ https://reason.com/2021/01/01/space-the-final-smuggling-fron... (what great article, must discuss https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25646360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25646360 ;))

gabereiser 6y ago

I agree with this at the macro level. It’s easy for a government to strong arm an individual into regulation, a small company even. When the markets themselves shift, that’s when government is going to have a hard time regulating. Crypto, good and bad, is here to stay because government is slow to respond to shifts. What’s going to be interesting to see is how this government regulations vs the people’s needs play out. The street vendors are suppling a demand, there’s a need, illegal vending or not.

logifail 6y ago

> Government [..] cannot effectively enforce rules Counter-example: pick any one of the (new) rules that are currently being enforced due to C19? Government may not be efficient, but from time to time may just be efficient enough to catch you and/or punish you. Shameless movie quote: "You've got to ask yourself a question: 'do I feel lucky?'"

sildur 6y ago
Paraphrasing another movie quote: "with everyone criminal, no one will be".
- logifail 6y ago
  > with everyone [..] Hmm, "everyone"? Q: What proportion of Bitcoin holders are actually using as an approximate alternative to fiat currency (regularly purchasing real life stuff using Bitcoin) vs holding and hoping to get rich?

boogies 6y ago

> Government is not efficient, and cannot effectively enforce rules, so cryptocurrency will undoubtedly survive. So true, they can’t even keep prohibited drugs from being smuggled onto their government spacecraft by hand-picked government (cosmo|astro)nauts. https://reason.com/2021/01/01/space-the-final-smuggling-frontier/ https://reason.com/2021/01/01/space-the-final-smuggling-fron... (what great article, must discuss https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25646360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25646360 ;))