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And why would you want a deflationary currency? If you see it as an investment, then of course. But for the general economy it is better when people spend their
by Ma8ee 5y ago
And why would you want a deflationary currency? If you see it as an investment, then of course. But for the general economy it is better when people spend their money sooner rather than later, and capital gets invested where it does something useful.
- ptr2voidStar 5y agoAh, the old Keynesian argument...
- Ericson2314 5y agoUm yes? And reality consistently confirms Keynsian/demand-side modeling.
- 988747 5y agoKeynsian demand-driven economy is the root of all evil, i.e. market bubbles that pop eventually. Everyone except market speculators would be much better of with supply-driven economy and small deflation. For one it would provide incentive to save money and spend it wisely, instead of mindlessly buying all that unnecessary crap.
- longwick 5y agoAh another free market neoliberalist. You do know that government intervention during Keynesian’s time was incredibly helpful for the macro economy - providing jobs and investment into long running avenues. Neoliberalism purports that the private sector will invest diligently but really we’re seeing companies use shortermism as a technique to just make profit.
- yellowapple 5y ago> Everyone except market speculators And debtors. The very notion of taking out a loan for something becomes nigh impossible with a deflationary currency, particularly one as deflationary as Bitcoin. Seeing as how the lower and middle class tend to take out loans for all sorts of reasons (since if they had the sort of cash lying around to buy homes and cars and appliances and such outright, they probably would be neither lower nor middle class), the direct harm such a currency would have is readily apparent.
- Ericson2314 5y agoWhile I'm skeptical of homeownership and car ownership in particular for other reasons, absolutely a healthy capitalist economy needs easy access to credit for potentially socially useful activities.
- strangeattractr 5y agoStrange reading of Keynes. I never read him advocate for rampant wasteful consumerism. In fact many of his arguments about government intervention (investment) are derived by his observation that consumption is prone to drying up. I also don't see how Keynes and speculative frenzies are connected, considering they existed long before his Treatise or General Theory.
- Ericson2314 5y agoIndeed, and bubbles are in assets not goods to consumption, and stimulus is supposed to boost consumption in the first order, so the comparison seems even more far fetched.
- ephbit 5y ago> ... his observation that consumption is prone to drying up. Now that wording has a certain ring to it (in my ears). "Consumption prone to drying up"? As if consumption alone were of any value. As if consumption were the foundation of all well being. As if it were something that needs to be tended to like some garden with flower beds. Sounds more like ideology to me instead of reasoning.
- Ericson2314 5y agoKeynesian isn't a value judgement on whether various sorts of consumption are good. It's firstly a description of how capitalist economies actually work, and secondarily a toolkit of policy based on that description. The focus on demand is primary because how it affects the economy writ large. In fact, Keynes himself famously thought that would be working 15 hours a week by now instead of...well...wherever all the work is going, some of which I suppose is propping up the consumption you don't approve of.
- 988747 5y agoKeynes advocated for rate cuts as a remedy for crises. His reasoning being that cheap credit will stimulate demand for consumer goods. It's almost the textbook definition of "wasteful consumerism".
- Ma8ee 5y agoIt's a pity then that supply side economy doesn't work.
- Ma8ee 5y agoAnd Keynes has empirically done very well, thank you.
- 3np 5y agoWell, now that it exists, what would you as an individual rather keep your cash in compared to inflationary fiat held in an account with negative interest rate?
- ProjectArcturis 5y agoGenuine investments in companies, real estate, and other hard assets which actually produce cash flow rather than BTC whose value depends on the madness of crowds and the tweets of eccentric billionaires.
- Qwertious 5y agoInvestment portfolios exist. They also reduce the cost of loans, thus making it easier for companies to grow and speeding up innovation. In comparison, the only thing "investing" in cryptocurrency does, is encourage larger economies of scale for cryptocurrency (which, side note, has built in mechanisms to actively prevent it from becoming more efficient).
- staticassertion 5y agoI don't know a single person who holds their money in 'cash'. They invest it in the market, real-estate, business development, etc.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- throwaway2037 5y agoI am one who holds cash. Not all, but not an insignificant portion either. I have a mixture of assets. Why not invest that cash? None of the investment opportunities that I see fit my risk profile. Example: I'm holding my stocks now, but I do not plan to buy more. The average middle class (and below) person in any highly developed country has a mixture of assets, dominated by their house and cash savings in a bank. Most don't directly own financial assets -- stocks, bonds, etc. However, they are invested in a pension (national or private) that will certainly invest in financial assets.