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> it brought about the longest sustained period of economic growth in human history, without which we would not even have Bitcoin to celebrate right now The in
by gyom 14y ago
> it brought about the longest sustained period of economic growth in human history, without which we would not even have Bitcoin to celebrate right now
The industrial revolution happened while on the gold standard (with just a few short periods where it didn't apply, as I understand). Steam power, railroads, electrification, refrigeration, anaesthesia, early automobiles and so on.
I'm very fond of the computers that we have now (yay 20th century !), but it's a bit hard to brush aside the 19th century just like that. There's insane economic growth that happened in that period.
- api 14y agoWith the exception of computers, most of the economic growth of the 20th century was centered in wasteful areas: runaway suburbanization, military Keynesianism and useless wars, etc. Funny that the kooks on the Austrian side of the debate predicted precisely that: that debt-based fiat currencies would encourage waste. I also find it very interesting that the Internet -- one of the few pieces of not-so-malinvestment that the 20th century produced -- really seems to "want" a currency like Bitcoin.
- bitcartel 14y agoDuring the hey days of the British Empire, the interest rate was stable, held at 5% for over a 100 years. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/13/interest-rates-uk-since-1694 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/13/interest... Meanwhile, today's 0.5% interest rate is unprecedented, a record low never seen before in the entire history of the Bank of England stretching back to 1694.
- Bognar 14y agoIt's almost as if technological advancement isn't tied to a certain type of currency.
- api 14y agoIt's almost as if currency is just a medium of exchange.