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> Fiat is backed by weapons. The same weapons that defend your house from other countries and force you to give up half your salary This is a very American vie
by michaelscott 5y ago
> Fiat is backed by weapons. The same weapons that defend your house from other countries and force you to give up half your salary
This is a very American view of fiat (and governmental role in general). It's a logic that only works if you're talking about the strongest military and associated country out of all alternatives, and at this point it falls apart. How do weapons protect the value of the Angolan kwanza or the Singaporean dollar? Neither of these countries could do anything militarily if a sizeable number of countries did not support their value.
- TheCoelacanth 5y agoDo Angola and Singapore not have police that enforce that their residents pay their tax bills?
- michaelscott 5y agoIrrelevant. These currencies are traded on forex exchanges outside their native countries, which means outside the jurisdiction of said police.
- EvilEy3 5y agoThey don't need sizeable number of countries. Only one major one.
- reader_mode 5y ago> Neither of these countries could do anything militarily if a sizeable number of countries did not support their value. That kwanza exchange graph looks like it has nothing backing it. If you doubt his point go look at Ukrainian hryvnia exchange rates graph, try to guess at which point Crimea thing happened.
- rustybelt 5y agoAny government that only accepts payment for taxes or other obligations in their own currency is backing their currency with the force of law and creating real demand for it.