Bitcoin also won’t put gas in your car or provide medical care for your family. To be clear, I mean this literally. I realize people have made millions and billions speculating in Bitcoin. They can use that money to buy food, gas, and medical care, but the point is that Bitcoin doesn’t actually produce these items or anything else that we directly consume.
That may seem obvious, but this simple point is important to anyone interested in thinking about Bitcoin seriously. If our economy is facing supply constraints, as was the case at times in the recovery from the pandemic recession, Bitcoin will not help address the problem. It does not produce any of the goods and services that people need.
If Bitcoin, or other crypto currencies, sell for high prices, it means that the people who hold these currencies can command more of a limited supply of goods and services. In other words, high priced crypto is a recipe for inflation, in the same way as would be the case if the government just dropped trillions of dollars from the sky for people to grab on the streets and in their backyards.
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As much as I like to argue against Bitcoin, this article is stupid or to be more correct the author of this article has no understanding of currency despite claiming to be a senior economist.
Not crypto (i.e. BTC) is the problem, but the gov/fed printing more $ is.
Money is just a unit in which we measure how much value one has generated for another person. If the gov prints more of those units they change the scale and basically rob from everyone who uses that scale to store his wealth (say surplus or unused/unclaimed value from other people) in. If now some people start to create a new scale for measuring that value of goods and services like BTC or in our case XMR, we just quit getting robbed a second time by the gov (first time is through paying taxes).
Cool words, but I don’t get point why did you write this?
I suppose that this is the case for any currency…which “doesn’t actually produce these items or anything else that we directly consume.” So are you making the point that Bitcoin is also a currency? That we should return to barter? That we should exchange on a system that counts the calories used in producing goods and services? What are you trying to say, dear u/Joker?
Did you actually read the article?
Yes, and I’m curious about your opinion. I suppose my point is that the title could easily have been, “Currencies Won’t Put Food on the Table.” But I suspect you think there is something deeper, perhaps even actionable. Would you like to share?
I don’t get what you are trying to get to here.
If you read the article then you know exactly what is the article was talking about.
The author is basically talking to people who think that crypto is the solution to everything wrong with the fiat currency.
Yes, but the author, a Noted Economist (who the fuck he is I don’t know/ care) misses the point that crypto is NOT fiat currency, is NOT controlled by governments. So I ask you one last time, why do you think this article, at the risk of appearing rude, is important? useful? worth sharing?, do you have any input? I mean at all? Or is this article, to you, just the most revelational take on crypto vs. fiat since, I dunno, sliced bread, and we should take heed of it’s every word, carve it letter by letter by hand into granite, etc? It’s all good either way.
For those following along: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Baker
You seem to be under the impression that I am forced to reply to you.
You are very rude.
Actually quite the reverse. I asked you to explain why, yet you choose not to. I have no force to bring to bear upon you, tho’ you appear to think I can or would be interested in applying a force upon you to make you speak. If you read above I say, “It’s all good either way.” Furthermore, while it appears to be your stated opinion that I am “very rude” an ad hominem attack, and yet, I really don’t care for your opinion of me, it’s your opinion of the article and what it states that I have asked, but am no longer asking, what you think of this Dr. Dean Baker’s article. So whatever you do, please don’t tell me now what you think. Have a nice day, u/Joker.
