Funny thing,I called MG Seigler a hack, and was attacked. Even PG came out of the word works to say he was "embarrassed" by the comment. Now we are calling Nobel prize winning economists hacks and asses?

The economic illiteracy of this place is what is embarrassing.

I was with you until this. Europe is suffering because of their austerity choices. Unemployment reached, like, 25% in Spain, FAR worse than the US. But I agree, "collapse" is ridiculous. Europe will chug along, albeit at a lower rate of growth.

I learned from living through this crisis (my first as an adult) that people over react like crazy in these situations. So much doomspeak, still.

My point is simply that it's pretty easy buy international currencies on the forex. IMHO easier than buying bit coins.

This is actually back in the news. And the value that the banks are looking to recover is closer to $500MM.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/UBS_unimpressed_with_Fa...

This is a flaw, not a benefit. I want to know what the value of my BTC are. Not what they are here, vs China, vs Canada, vs Australia...

>"Buying and selling an Indian Rupee for example is quite heavily restricted. "

What do you mean, "quite heavily restricted"? It's far harder for me to buy BTC, especially with these ongoing issues, than it is to buy Rupees in my forex account.

The last time ZenPayroll made the front page, I (and others) were skeptical about the ability to usurp some of the bigger players. Targeting second party payroll providers is a superb idea. In fact, as someone who dabbled in low-key book keeping services to help me pay for school, something like this would have been wonderful. This is how business becomes more efficient. Waiting on Canada...

I have a bit of experience with SRED in Ontario, and quite a bit with the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Grants are nicer for you (me), but tax credits are doing it right as far as the government is concerned. Canada wants you to create employment. If you have a business that is generating revenue and creating jobs, they'll "give back" money that equates to, sometimes, paying wages at 50 cents on the dollar.

Tax credits are an economically efficient way to distribute government funds.

A stolen CC is useless if no merchant accepts it.

And was actively defended and supported the last time a thread came up questioning the issues that Coinbase was having:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5427985

Turns out those questions were justified. They've outted people selling bath salts and god knows what else.

So much for anonymity. Between this, MtGox, Instawallet, do we still believe Bitcoin is taking over the world?

The major exchange getting DDOS'd, a popular online wallet service provider getting hacked, and a plunge in the price of Bitcoins perhaps.

All of this days after the discussion around here was about BitCoins usurping major currencies. I don't get it.

Bitcoins are one asset among many, and just as prone to booms and busts.

That's only part of the argument.

Another part is that wages also must decrease with deflation (wages are an input price). And that's very difficult to pull off in a modern economy, and leads to unemployment. We are seeing that right now.

The fact of the matter is, we should be indifferent to either inflation or deflation, as long as we can see the changes coming and adjust quickly enough. In reality, we can't. Hence an ever-increasing money supply (to coincide with an ever-increasing demand for money) is the best bet.

>"based on theories of economics developed that classify savings as bad"

I've never encountered that argument.

>My point is that deflation isn't the bogeyman

Look at this thread. Look at Seeking Alpha. Look at Reddit. You think people are over-reacting to deflation? People everywhere are hyperventilating over out of control inflation, when, in fact, our current problems are associated with a deflationary event ($3.5TT wiped from the collective financial sector sheets).

Interesting. We've been in a positive inflation environment since I've been born, and my net worth has increased exponentially.

Deflation will increase the purchasing power of your money due to the fall in prices, but decrease the value of assets you own priced in that currency. Something people seem to be forgetting around here are that wages also fall during deflation, and that results in lower purchasing power and unemployment. Your "work" isn't worth as much anymore. You get paid less. Good deal!

What happened when the housing bubble collapsed and there was massive deflation in home prices? Did those people get wealthier? Did it become easier for other people to spend their dollars on homes at the new low prices? The answer is no and no.

By you, perhaps.

Economic crisis, couldn't pay the bills, so they inflated the currency. Just like I said. Are you really going to argue that there was no war or aftermath, social upheaval or other crisis (like, say, debilitating war reparations) that led to hyperinflation? Crisis comes first.

So often Wiemar Germany is trotted out as the example of what can happen when the government prints excessively. "It can happen to you! Wheel-barrows full of money to buy bread!" The reality, the country and its economy was in shambles. Not because of inflation.

Your turn: point to an economy that was happily chugging along, and hyperinflation came out of nowhere and took it down.

And which have collapsed from inflation? None, directly. Hyperinflation (and deflation) is an effect of an economy collapsing. Not a cause.

From Wiki: "Hyperinflation is often associated with wars, their aftermath, sociopolitical upheavals, or other crises that make it difficult for the government to tax the population, as a sudden and sharp decrease in tax revenue coupled with a strong effort to maintain the status quo can be a direct trigger of hyperinflation."

Note "decrease in tax revenue". Economic crisis > deflation > country can't pay the bills > hyper-inflates currency.