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I wouldn't go to Krugman for technology insights. This is the same guy who basically said the Internet has no future, and now he's repeating it for Bitcoin.

by salient 13y ago

lovemath 13y ago
Except in this case he's only quoting John Levine.
- patrickaljord 13y ago
  He's quoting a friend of his who happens to agree with him. Shocking.
tvladeck 13y ago
He came around on the Internet (and admitted his mistake), and now believes there will be large productivity gains from Big Data. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/the-dynamo-and-big-data/ http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/the-dynamo-and-b... Edit: I realize I'm not addressing your larger point. He still may not be the guy to go to. But that being said I think his opinions are more nuanced. Edit 2: Another post by him on the value of ICT: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/the-ict-revolution-isnt-over/ http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/the-ict-revoluti...
- hexis 13y ago
  No doubt that when bitcoin's success is obvious, he will also admit his mistake and go on to make another uninformed prediction.
  - tvladeck 13y ago
    I personally find that people who admit their mistakes more trustworthy because it shows they can at least learn from them. In this case, the jury is very much still out on whether BTC will succeed as a currency, and not as a protocol that's useful for some other thing (or many other things), which seems to be the crux of Krugman's argument.
nhaehnle 13y ago
So don't go to Krugman for technology insights. Go to him for economic insights. Consider the recent discussion about "positive vs. normative economics". It's a similar point here. There are Bitcoinistas who would like governments to abolish their own currencies and make Bitcoin the currency of the land, or perhaps adopt a Bitcoin-standard akin to a gold standard. Those are economic policy proposals. Are they good ideas? It makes sense to listen to what economists have to say when you are trying to figure out the answer.

I wouldn't go to Krugman for technology insights. This is the same guy who basically said the Internet has no future, and now he's repeating it for Bitcoin.

by salient 13y ago

I wouldn't go to Krugman for technology insights. This is the same guy who basically said the Internet has no future, and now he's repeating it for Bitcoin.

lovemath 13y ago

Except in this case he's only quoting John Levine.

patrickaljord 13y ago
He's quoting a friend of his who happens to agree with him. Shocking.

tvladeck 13y ago

He came around on the Internet (and admitted his mistake), and now believes there will be large productivity gains from Big Data. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/the-dynamo-and-big-data/ http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/the-dynamo-and-b... Edit: I realize I'm not addressing your larger point. He still may not be the guy to go to. But that being said I think his opinions are more nuanced. Edit 2: Another post by him on the value of ICT: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/the-ict-revolution-isnt-over/ http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/the-ict-revoluti...

hexis 13y ago
No doubt that when bitcoin's success is obvious, he will also admit his mistake and go on to make another uninformed prediction.
- tvladeck 13y ago
  I personally find that people who admit their mistakes more trustworthy because it shows they can at least learn from them. In this case, the jury is very much still out on whether BTC will succeed as a currency, and not as a protocol that's useful for some other thing (or many other things), which seems to be the crux of Krugman's argument.

nhaehnle 13y ago

So don't go to Krugman for technology insights. Go to him for economic insights. Consider the recent discussion about "positive vs. normative economics". It's a similar point here. There are Bitcoinistas who would like governments to abolish their own currencies and make Bitcoin the currency of the land, or perhaps adopt a Bitcoin-standard akin to a gold standard. Those are economic policy proposals. Are they good ideas? It makes sense to listen to what economists have to say when you are trying to figure out the answer.