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Zimbabwe had hyper-inflation, which made currency worthless as soon as it was printed. Bitcoins have the opposite "problem".

• Jtsummers 13y ago
  So in Zimbabwe, receiving $1,000,000 in the morning was a losing proposition because by nightfall you might sell the same good for $1,000,000,000. With hyper-deflation, spending $1,000,000 in the morning would be a losing proposition because by nightfall you might buy the same good for $1,000. Both suffer severe problems, economically, but who loses and who wins changes. The matrix is something like this: Inflation| Buyer | Seller | ---------+-------+--------+ Early | Win | Lose | ---------+-------+--------+ Later | Lose | Win | ---------+-------+--------+ Deflation| Buyer | Seller | ---------+-------+--------+ Early | Lose | Win | ---------+-------+--------+ Later | Win | Lose | ---------+-------+--------+ Ultimately, neither one is good. In the case of moderate deflation and inflation it's similar. There is less motivation to invest, greater motivation to save under moderate deflation. Moderate inflation increases the motivation to invest, but decreases the motivation to save.