88. Is bitcoin good money? A debate with Paul Frijters

In this episode Saifedean invites back Professor Paul Frijters of the London School of Economics to debate whether bitcoin is a good form of money. Saifedean makes the case for money as a market phenomenon, and argues that bitcoin has the scarcity, divisibility, fungibility and transportability that humans have historically valued in monies. Paul questions whether bitcoin mining is a zero-sum game and whether the fact that people hold bitcoin really demonstrates it has value. The debate touches on the demonetization of silver in China, the scarcity of land, and whether government force is legitimate at all.

Resources

• Nick Szabo’s article Shelling Out for an account of the historical emergence of money.
• When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson
• When Money Destroys Nations by Russell Lamberti and Philip Haslam
• The Ethics of Liberty by Murray Rothbard
• The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick
• The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz, for further discussion of cholesterol
• Paul’s article Why Blockchain has no economic future
• Paul’s textbook A Handbook for Wellbeing Policy-Making: History, Theory, Measurement, Implementation, and Examples.
• Saifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin Standard
• Saifedean’s second book, The Fiat Standard

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