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> History is more on the side of it happening than not. Is this true? Of all the years that various countries have used traditional fiat currency, has debaseme

> History is more on the side of it happening than not. Is this true? Of all the years that various countries have used traditional fiat currency, has debasement happened more years than it hasn't? I don't think so but I'm not certain. Obviously, nobody can predict the future here, and history tells us that all empires come to an end at some point. But we're watching crypto speed-run through all of the issues that the American banking system had in the Free Banking era leading up to the creation of the Fed. Operating in this trustless crypto system still makes it possible for people in control to do stupid things which threaten the viability of the entire system. Personally, I think cases like this prove that wealth concentration in the hands of the few leads to these situations. It's a not a government problem, it's a concentration of wealth and power problem. Individuals shouldn't have this much money or power to act so recklessly, but we accept the outcome as a consequence of our winner-take-all culture.

jdasdf 4y ago
>Is this true? Of all the years that various countries have used traditional fiat currency, has debasement happened more years than it hasn't? I don't think so but I'm not certain. Do you know of any currency over the past 200 years that has suffered deflation throughout that period? I don't mean "occasionally has one year with deflation", I mean, the real value of 1 unit of that currency 200 years ago was less than what it is today.
- thr0wawayf00 4y ago
  Certainly major currencies have experienced periods of deflation (i.e. the Great Depression, the Great Recession, etc.). But deflation is a sign of weakening economy as well. There's an obsession with inflation, but the reality is that some inflation is inevitable in a growing economy as demand outpaces supply. Economists agree pretty consistently on that.
  - jdasdf 4y ago
    I want to be very clear here, because I believe you're saying what you are saying because you have been taught that way, and because the mainstream media and general economic literature seem to hold that view, and so you, in good faith, are merely repeating it. You are wrong. The economist that agree with that view are also wrong, or they are biased by conflicts of interest. The central banks that support and propagate that view, have a significant conflict of interest as well. I heavily recommend you consider the incentives of the people teaching that view, and that you re-think from the most elementary of economic principles how exactly that would work. There is no long term benefit to monetary inflation. I cannot repeat this enough, monetary inflation, just like monetary deflation, is a distortion on the market, and like any other distortions on the market, it has a net negative expected value. Of course this negative expected value is distributed throughout the entire economy, whereas the benefits are concentrated on one entity, the issuer of the currency, which is the central bank and the state by association.
Mistletoe 4y ago
A chart showing the lifecycle of world reserve currencies: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkUHjO9XkAgKB57.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkUHjO9XkAgKB57.jpg

jdasdf 4y ago

>Is this true? Of all the years that various countries have used traditional fiat currency, has debasement happened more years than it hasn't? I don't think so but I'm not certain. Do you know of any currency over the past 200 years that has suffered deflation throughout that period? I don't mean "occasionally has one year with deflation", I mean, the real value of 1 unit of that currency 200 years ago was less than what it is today.

thr0wawayf00 4y ago
Certainly major currencies have experienced periods of deflation (i.e. the Great Depression, the Great Recession, etc.). But deflation is a sign of weakening economy as well. There's an obsession with inflation, but the reality is that some inflation is inevitable in a growing economy as demand outpaces supply. Economists agree pretty consistently on that.
- jdasdf 4y ago
  I want to be very clear here, because I believe you're saying what you are saying because you have been taught that way, and because the mainstream media and general economic literature seem to hold that view, and so you, in good faith, are merely repeating it. You are wrong. The economist that agree with that view are also wrong, or they are biased by conflicts of interest. The central banks that support and propagate that view, have a significant conflict of interest as well. I heavily recommend you consider the incentives of the people teaching that view, and that you re-think from the most elementary of economic principles how exactly that would work. There is no long term benefit to monetary inflation. I cannot repeat this enough, monetary inflation, just like monetary deflation, is a distortion on the market, and like any other distortions on the market, it has a net negative expected value. Of course this negative expected value is distributed throughout the entire economy, whereas the benefits are concentrated on one entity, the issuer of the currency, which is the central bank and the state by association.

Mistletoe 4y ago

A chart showing the lifecycle of world reserve currencies: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkUHjO9XkAgKB57.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkUHjO9XkAgKB57.jpg