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> At no point in this pipeline does Mike's capital touch productive enterprise. This is an interesting economic/philosophical angle. What is the logical conclu
by titanomachy 4mo ago
> At no point in this pipeline does Mike's capital touch productive enterprise.
This is an interesting economic/philosophical angle. What is the logical conclusion of this? What happens as a higher fraction of people deploy their capital in zero-sum games? Is "deployment" even the right framing? A bet doesn't necessarily "tie up" capital in the same way as a real investment (you could place your bet moments before it's settled). Buying crypto does tie up capital, sort of, although in theory you could invest crypto-denominated assets into something productive.
My capital is in real estate and (mostly US tech) company equity. Is society actually better off because I put my capital there instead of letting it sit in a bank account or crypto wallet?
- ForHackernews 4mo agoThe logical conclusion is it should be taxed as gambling, not investing. Some countries like India have already gotten this one right.
- blenklo 4mo agoBuying crypto actually 'doubles' money by increasing risk: You buy crypto and give out fiat. Now you have apparently 1 crypto worth 1 fiat and someone else now has 1 fiat.
- Dilettante_ 4mo agoI go to the store and buy a pencil. Now I have apparently 1 pencil worth 1 fiat and someone else now has 1 fiat? What a preposterous notion!
- blenklo 4mo agoThe pencil was made with 'work'. You exchange existing work with 1 fiat. If you do not consume this work, you can exchange it back.
- Dilettante_ 4mo agoThe cryptocurency was also made with work. Hardware, electricity, and time were invested into the 1 unit of crypto. It's literally called Proof-Of-Work.