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Title: Perhaps Bitcoin will slow down rampant consumerism Post by: bitlotto on June 08, 2011, 11:54:11 PM I know for myself, I'm slower to spend BTC knowing the value increases with time. (So far) I'm always thinking: Do I need it? Can it wait? I do spend, but more conservatively.
Whereas, with cash, it seems like when I have it, I spend it. I know that with time it's value will get less and less and so I'm more motivated to get rid of it without thinking too much. So perhaps a currency that grows in value will slow down wasteful spending? (I don't really know much about economics but it seems like quite a few here do, so I was hoping for some thoughts!) Title: Re: Perhaps Bitcoin will slow down rampant consumerism Post by: em3rgentOrdr on June 09, 2011, 12:08:08 AM FEDERAL RESERVE likes to keep currency inflating at a steady rate. This encourages people to spend their money more since their cash looses value over time. Thus rampart consumerism is bad because it artifically creates extra economic activity when there shouldn't be. This leads to artificial economic booms which ultimately lead to busts. So yes, bitcoin will help level out and bring some sanity to the economic cycle.
Title: Re: Perhaps Bitcoin will slow down rampant consumerism Post by: skysurfer808 on June 09, 2011, 12:51:17 AM Quote I know for myself, I'm slower to spend BTC knowing the value increases with time. (So far) I'm always thinking: Do I need it? Can it wait? I do spend, but more conservatively. Whereas, with cash, it seems like when I have it, I spend it. I know that with time it's value will get less and less and so I'm more motivated to get rid of it without thinking too much. So perhaps a currency that grows in value will slow down wasteful spending? (I don't really know much about economics but it seems like quite a few here do, so I was hoping for some thoughts!) Quote FEDERAL RESERVE likes to keep currency inflating at a steady rate. This encourages people to spend their money more since their cash looses value over time. Thus rampart consumerism is bad because it artifically creates extra economic activity when there shouldn't be. This leads to artificial economic booms which ultimately lead to busts. So yes, bitcoin will help level out and bring some sanity to the economic cycle. Great posts guys, you've described exactly what happens to society when money becomes devalued over time, a thing we are all conditioned with as we've grown up watching the dollar's value plummet. The hope is that Bitcoin appreciates and is adopted to the point where it acts as a corrective to the decline in the value of Fiat. Skysurfer808 Title: Re: Perhaps Bitcoin will slow down rampant consumerism Post by: bitcool on June 09, 2011, 02:48:24 AM So perhaps a currency that grows in value will slow down wasteful spending? I have no doubt this is true. In order to make customers open their bitcoin wallets, product and service need to be highly valuable and of high quality. Title: Re: Perhaps Bitcoin will slow down rampant consumerism Post by: fornit on June 09, 2011, 03:24:29 PM So perhaps a currency that grows in value will slow down wasteful spending? I have no doubt this is true. In order to make customers open their bitcoin wallets, product and service need to be highly valuable and of high quality. i really hope that happens, economic growth just for its own sake is one of the biggest problems mankind has right now. i think a deflationary currency can play a vital role in changing the economy so that it focuses on human needs again. Title: Re: Perhaps Bitcoin will slow down rampant consumerism Post by: hugolp on June 09, 2011, 06:44:19 PM i really hope that happens, economic growth just for its own sake is one of the biggest problems mankind has right now. i think a deflationary currency can play a vital role in changing the economy so that it focuses on human needs again. I agree with the sentiment of your sentence, but I want to stress that growing GDP, that is an increase of the economic activity, is not always growth. Its a perverssion of the language and the economic concepts that has created a lot of damage. Growth is producing what people want and need. Therefore not all economic activity is growth. F.e., the housing bubble was pushing GDP up because it was creating economic activity, but it was not growth, since we were using resources (both material and human) into building things people did not want in that quantity (houses). That was not growth, they were malinvestments. |