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I had not considered the way crypto/nfts have been commandeered to be a side effect of wealth not being able to be allocated fully anymore. That's an interestin

by ehnto 5y ago

I had not considered the way crypto/nfts have been commandeered to be a side effect of wealth not being able to be allocated fully anymore. That's an interesting take. I wish there were a way for that kind of wayward money to do some real work improving our communities while it waits for something more profitable to do. I don't necessarily mind that people are trying to make money with their money, but it is a shame that so much capital is caught up in financial instruments that don't do any real work while it's holding onto it.

clairity 5y ago
that's exactly the crux of the problem: a misallocation of resources due to the increasing distortions caused by increased wealth concentration. it's directly observable in investment markets like software startups or crypto, but it's effects are felt all over the economy. like most systems, balance is critical to optimality. greed in moderation drives the economy, while greed in excess grinds it to a halt (as does a dearth of greed, à la communistic economies). at least 50 years of poor financial policy fostered by laissez-faire economic dogma led us to these distortions, so it's no better time than now to start realizing this and digging ourselves out of it, rather than being distracted by outrage du jour.
jrochkind1 5y ago
> I had not considered the way crypto/nfts have been commandeered to be a side effect of wealth not being able to be allocated fully anymore. If I point out that Marxist economic theory talks about a "crisis of capital accumulation" where capitalists (meaning those with capital to invest) don't have enough places to invest their capital succesfully, and that this is related to "financialization" as a method of opening new places to put capital (also in some circumstances "imperialism"), and that in different periods this can go up and down... in the past I usually get down-voted.
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  That used to happen periodically at Marx's time. One such crisis was one of the factors that led to the first World War (but then, what wasn't?)

by ehnto 5y ago

clairity 5y ago

that's exactly the crux of the problem: a misallocation of resources due to the increasing distortions caused by increased wealth concentration. it's directly observable in investment markets like software startups or crypto, but it's effects are felt all over the economy. like most systems, balance is critical to optimality. greed in moderation drives the economy, while greed in excess grinds it to a halt (as does a dearth of greed, à la communistic economies). at least 50 years of poor financial policy fostered by laissez-faire economic dogma led us to these distortions, so it's no better time than now to start realizing this and digging ourselves out of it, rather than being distracted by outrage du jour.

jrochkind1 5y ago

> I had not considered the way crypto/nfts have been commandeered to be a side effect of wealth not being able to be allocated fully anymore. If I point out that Marxist economic theory talks about a "crisis of capital accumulation" where capitalists (meaning those with capital to invest) don't have enough places to invest their capital succesfully, and that this is related to "financialization" as a method of opening new places to put capital (also in some circumstances "imperialism"), and that in different periods this can go up and down... in the past I usually get down-voted.

marcosdumay 5y ago
That used to happen periodically at Marx's time. One such crisis was one of the factors that led to the first World War (but then, what wasn't?)