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Article: "What if money expired?"
Pyraxis:
--- Quote from: odeon on January 03, 2024, 04:12:41 PM ---Money is an abstraction to provide a measure of available resources. Obviously, multiple currencies and distinct economies do not help. You need a baseline to match the various economies. It becomes an additional concern - the way money behaves becomes an issue by itself.
--- End quote ---
Is it obvious? I don't actually understand why there needs to be a baseline currency, unless it's of a useful resource like gold or silicon or something. It seems to be problematic for a specific country's currency to be the baseline because it concentrates too much power in one place. I know China for example really wants something other than the USA dollar to be the standard.
--- Quote from: odeon on January 03, 2024, 04:12:41 PM ---Which is why cryptocurrencies are problematic; they introduce a variable not related to resources - server farms and the like. They are really no better than the fake money you use to "buy" things in any number of online games.
--- End quote ---
Processing power is a resource. I don't own cryptocurrency but how is it any more virtual than bizarre mortgage derivatives, stock puts and calls, and whatever other layers over layers of financial nonsense that overpaid Wall Street suits come up with?
Gopher Gary:
--- Quote from: Pyraxis on January 05, 2024, 01:59:07 PM ---I'm kind of used to hoarding groceries because I have to eat gluten free, and the grocery stores are always hit or miss whether they carry or keep in stock any given product. The supply trucks only come monthly instead of weekly and they're always discontinuing things because they didn't sell in whatever brief period the grocery manager is examining. So when I see something I like, I get three or four.
Having the cub made it worse because it became so much harder to get to the store. No more last minute runs when discovering halfway through a recipe I'm missing something, and little kids are too prone to tantrums if you run out of their favourite flavour of the week.
--- End quote ---
I hoard food because Sugarbutt has special dietary needs too. (emo)
conlang returns:
--- Quote from: Pyraxis on January 05, 2024, 02:07:46 PM ---Processing power is a resource. I don't own cryptocurrency but how is it any more virtual than bizarre mortgage derivatives, stock puts and calls, and whatever other layers over layers of financial nonsense that overpaid Wall Street suits come up with?
--- End quote ---
I think it's all just different forms of gambling. Some of them do have real world effects on the people who don't play, unfortunately. And it seems exclusively for the worse. But I think that's mostly a result of our poor implementation of democracy. Having so much wealth puts people into a position of power without accountability to the people they hold power over. So it's real easy to "socialize risks while privatising profits" as I've often heard it stated.
renaeden:
We were down to two rolls of toilet paper at one stage. I had to buy some below-Kayleigh's-standards (and...mine too) toilet paper from the Salvos. We still have two rolls of it now.
The thing I was surprised about it going out of stock was cordial. I drink cordial at work out of a litre bottle. I have problems with a dry mouth so I really need it. Anyway, during the shortage I had to drink Soda Stream diet cola since that's all I could get hold of. Hopefully I'll never have to drink that again. I don't like water, heh.
odeon:
--- Quote from: Pyraxis on January 05, 2024, 02:07:46 PM ---
--- Quote from: odeon on January 03, 2024, 04:12:41 PM ---Money is an abstraction to provide a measure of available resources. Obviously, multiple currencies and distinct economies do not help. You need a baseline to match the various economies. It becomes an additional concern - the way money behaves becomes an issue by itself.
--- End quote ---
Is it obvious? I don't actually understand why there needs to be a baseline currency, unless it's of a useful resource like gold or silicon or something. It seems to be problematic for a specific country's currency to be the baseline because it concentrates too much power in one place. I know China for example really wants something other than the USA dollar to be the standard.
--- End quote ---
A baseline will only work well if the economies are (or can be made) comparable or if there are only a few large economies (that rea reasonably comparable). Any differences have to be handled in some way - tariffs, exchange currencies that differ depending on direction, etc. In a small society, one abstraction will work just fine. Introduce complexity and everything will be more difficult.
So no - baseline is not a given, but it's what they are trying to do.
And multiple currencies are always a concern because they are all abstractions but controlled within separate systems.
--- Quote ---
--- Quote from: odeon on January 03, 2024, 04:12:41 PM ---Which is why cryptocurrencies are problematic; they introduce a variable not related to resources - server farms and the like. They are really no better than the fake money you use to "buy" things in any number of online games.
--- End quote ---
Processing power is a resource. I don't own cryptocurrency but how is it any more virtual than bizarre mortgage derivatives, stock puts and calls, and whatever other layers over layers of financial nonsense that overpaid Wall Street suits come up with?
--- End quote ---
It introduces multiple additional abstractions, including non-market dependencies. All of a sudden, the value of the currency is also tied to specific resources - silicon availability, delivery chains, Nvidia graphics card availability, etc - and yet there are region dependencies as well because things like Nvidia cards have export restrictions. It's a weird situation.
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