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“.. the whole point of crypto currencies is to do away with central banks due to a strange paranoia..” I agree there are a lot of people involved with Bitcoin

“.. the whole point of crypto currencies is to do away with central banks due to a strange paranoia..” I agree there are a lot of people involved with Bitcoin that have trust issues (justified or unjustified... you be the judge) but this statement is a generalisation. Currently cryptocurrencies are the only way for me to be the custodian of my money in a digital form. If I leave money in the bank while I save up for a deposit for a home loan at the moment I get basically no interest and the bank gets to loan around 17x that money to others to buy residential property. Meanwhile the cost of housing is increasing because those who have sufficient funds in their account are better off parking that money in the property market (with or without an accompanying loan) Can you see why people want out of this perverse system?

lottin 5y ago
No, I don't see it. I think if you think banks are to blame for high housing costs, you're not thinking very hard. Housing costs rise in some areas, because a lot of people wants to move in those areas. Building new houses takes time, which means in the short term prices will rise inevitably. Same thing applies to interest rates. Low interest rates are simply signalling that there is an oversupply of savings in the market. If you still want to save, fine, but don't expect to earn much interest. This is not some conspiracy of evil bankers, just normal market forces at play.
- CTDOCodebases 5y ago
  “Housing costs rise in some areas, because a lot of people wants to move in those areas.” Oh silly me. Here I was thinking that it had something to do with the cheap debt available (courtesy of government, banks and my savings for a home loan deposit), negative gearing and lax foreign investment laws that incentivise individuals to purchase residential properties for investment purposes. Like I said. I just want to be the custodian of my money in a secure digital form so that it cannot be used against me. Why is that so unacceptable?
  - lottin 5y ago
    Putting your life savings in a high-risk, non-producing asset is not very smart, but it's certainly nobody's business but yours.

lottin 5y ago

No, I don't see it. I think if you think banks are to blame for high housing costs, you're not thinking very hard. Housing costs rise in some areas, because a lot of people wants to move in those areas. Building new houses takes time, which means in the short term prices will rise inevitably. Same thing applies to interest rates. Low interest rates are simply signalling that there is an oversupply of savings in the market. If you still want to save, fine, but don't expect to earn much interest. This is not some conspiracy of evil bankers, just normal market forces at play.

CTDOCodebases 5y ago
“Housing costs rise in some areas, because a lot of people wants to move in those areas.” Oh silly me. Here I was thinking that it had something to do with the cheap debt available (courtesy of government, banks and my savings for a home loan deposit), negative gearing and lax foreign investment laws that incentivise individuals to purchase residential properties for investment purposes. Like I said. I just want to be the custodian of my money in a secure digital form so that it cannot be used against me. Why is that so unacceptable?
- lottin 5y ago
  Putting your life savings in a high-risk, non-producing asset is not very smart, but it's certainly nobody's business but yours.