microwave

i do computer (and occasionally communism)

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist let me ask you: what is the purpose of currency?

if it's a medium of exchange, then its value should remain fixed to facilitate exchanges at fixed prices.

if it's a store of value, no it isn't.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist i'm saying that when there are twice as many people, your economy needs twice as much money, to ensure it retains the same value for everyone.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist whether it is that way or not in established systems is irrelevant. we're talking about hypothetical ideal economies, so i'm inventing one of my own where new money is distributed to the masses first.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist because, as i explained, the need for money changes. like, populations grow. 100/1000 is the same as 200/2000, but not 100/2000. when new people enter the economy, everybody needs a bit more money to balance it out.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist i don't think that one central authority should be free to print all money. i think the money supply, in the sad scenario where we continue to use money, should be variable to reflect the needs of people and provide a stable means of exchange. that can be done many ways.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist take a look at the volatility of bitcoin over the last year versus, say, the swiss franc (just off the top of my head) over the same period and get back to me.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist agreed. if we print a bunch of money and it just goes to bezos, that does nothing for anybody but bezos. that's why good economic policy is important.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist you're not going to get me with some sort of "central bank bad" or "fiat bad" gotcha. i'm literally a communist. i think that all currency is bullshit; it was outdated a century ago, and is definitely worthless now. crypto is no different, as i've been trying to point out.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist you go to a store to buy something at a set price. and in the time between the shop owner changing the price, the cost of materials went up so much that they can now no longer afford to source anything.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist rapid deflation is just as dangerous as rapid inflation. the nightmare scenario with inflation is that you go to a store, and in the time it took you to get there you can no longer afford to buy what you went for. same sort of issue arises with deflation.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist so you're pro-gold standard then? you believe that a person's value is decided by the arbitrary ownership of certain material things?

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist now we're talking economic policy. this is not an issue of whether currencies inflate or not - it's a question of where the new money goes. often it doesn't go to working people, but at least it *can*.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist crypto is not exactly a well-regulated market. that's kind of the whole selling point.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@mira_hurley @gurghet @DigiEconomist since money is all imaginary anyway, the danger isn't really inflation on its own. the danger is, in the long term at least, wages not keeping up with inflation. that's what we've seen, and it's not coincidental that it's worse in less regulated markets.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@davidgerard also an insult to cryptography, and even cryptozoology.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@soooo_jp the first little bit of rasou gives me strong cyberpunk vibes. dunno if you get this too, but it's been on my mind.

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@gurghet @SkipTheHype @mira_hurley @DigiEconomist so assuming it is useful as a currency and can make transactions quickly, all mr savvy dictator must do is have a transaction added to the chain signing over some coins to himself, yes?

[microwave @microchipsndip]

@gurghet @SkipTheHype @mira_hurley @DigiEconomist correct me if i'm wrong, but i thought that a cryptocurrency is fundamentally a public immutable ledger recording transactions.
for it to be useful as a currency, it must be able to process transactions as fast as i buy things.
otherwise it's useless as a currency.