This isn't specific to Bitcoin, although Bitcoin prompted the question. For a non-superficial answer, you'd want to read papers by Austrian economists. If you

This isn't specific to Bitcoin, although Bitcoin prompted the question. For a non-superficial answer, you'd want to read papers by Austrian economists. If you want amateur opinions, which I'm willing to bet is all you'll get on HN, it's been discussed to death on bitcointalk.org. Start with https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=222845.0;all https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=222845.0;all