El Salvador President Hires Bitcoin Standard Author As Economic Advisor

[bbc.reporter]

I am not quite sure if this hiring of Ammous would be the best for El Salvador's Bitcoin roadmap. The comments that I have read on Ammous from social media are not very good and have also been skeptical in his qualifications as an economist.

The prominent people in bitcointalk appear to like him and find him a highly intelligent lecturer, however. It might be a good hiring.



El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has onboarded Saiffedean Ammous – author of The Bitcoin Standard – as an Economic Advisor to the National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador.

In his role, the author will “advise on matters related to various economic policies,” while supporting Bukele’s policy of “economic liberty and bitcoin,” according to a Bitcoin office statement.

Read in full https://cryptopotato.com/el-salvador-president-hires-bitcoin-standard-author-as-economic-advisor/

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[bayu7adi]

The presence of a consultant is indeed essential in every decision-making process related to cryptocurrency in El Salvador. Considering that El Salvador adopted Bitcoin just two years ago, it means that the country greatly needs individuals with broader experience and knowledge about Bitcoin.

Ammous's contributions are quite convincing, as he has shown willingness to educate several students about Bitcoin in the past. This demonstrates Ammous's significant dedication to the progress of cryptocurrency worldwide.

Ammous's presence can also provide solutions from a different perspective, thus ensuring more informed decision-making processes. The emotional support from an expert can have a profound impact on the advancement of cryptocurrency adoption in El Salvador.

[Poker Player]

I am not quite sure if this hiring of Ammous would be the best for El Salvador's Bitcoin roadmap. The comments that I have read on Ammous from social media are not very good and have also been skeptical in his qualifications as an economist.

So you mean to say that among leftists in social media, a libertarian economist advocating the Austrian school of economics is not very well liked. How shocking! 

Because I certainly don't think you mean that these criticisms come from right-wing people, or from people who understand economics from a libertarian conception where the state is more of a threat to our rights and liberties and the currency a tool it has to coerce them.

[BlackBoss_]

Nayib Bukele is a big fan of Bitcoin and I respect him for his strong belief in Bitcoin as well as his support for Bitcoin at national scale.

At another view, risk management at national scale, I disagree with Bukele by putting his nation into risk of debt and volatility of Bitcoin. That nation is already in very bad economics and national financial balance and debt, I really hope that the bet of Bukele on Bitcoin will not put his nation and his citizens into a national bankruptcy.

Positively is on him as the bear market is nearly over, only about 6 to 11 months before the bear market is officially over and it looks like we already passed through worst months in this bear market.

[Darker45]

Well, in the first place, it seems Ammous doesn't even have a strong background in economics. Although he's been teaching economics, he's actually an engineering graduate who has masters and doctorate degrees in the fields of development.

But he's probably studied the economics side of Bitcoin pretty well to have been able to produce a best-selling book on it. So he must have a fair amount of knowledge on Bitcoin.

Anyway, his is merely an advisory role. The president must have so many advisors and consultants left and right. Adding one more voice won't probably hurt, much less compromise, the entire economic roadmap of El Salvador.

[GreatArkansas]

It's good news for me, El Salvador's president is smart indeed because the one that they hired knows what he is doing.
This kind of person is indeed the one that they need because this country is already a Bitcoin-friendly country.
Saifedean Ammous already contributes a lot to the Bitcoin community and I believe that other countries will follow once El Salvador will be able to prove that accepting Bitcoin as a legal tender is a good choice.

[bittraffic]

Nayib Bukele is a big fan of Bitcoin and I respect him for his strong belief in Bitcoin as well as his support for Bitcoin at national scale.

At another view, risk management at national scale, I disagree with Bukele by putting his nation into risk of debt and volatility of Bitcoin. That nation is already in very bad economics and national financial balance and debt, I really hope that the bet of Bukele on Bitcoin will not put his nation and his citizens into a national bankruptcy.

Positively is on him as the bear market is nearly over, only about 6 to 11 months before the bear market is officially over and it looks like we already passed through worst months in this bear market.

Maybe you are not aware. El Salvador paid its debt to IMF. Bukele seem to be doing it right and still got the support of the people despite the negative publication about him on the media outside their country.

Ammous is controversial though and has opinions that some of us may not agree. But I think Bukele needs a mind of someone who has an anarchist mind but at the same time educator. Ammous I believe is qualified and most importantly he believe in decentralization.

[bbc.reporter]

I am not quite sure if this hiring of Ammous would be the best for El Salvador's Bitcoin roadmap. The comments that I have read on Ammous from social media are not very good and have also been skeptical in his qualifications as an economist.

So you mean to say that among leftists in social media, a libertarian economist advocating the Austrian school of economics is not very well liked. How shocking!  

Because I certainly don't think you mean that these criticisms come from right-wing people, or from people who understand economics from a libertarian conception where the state is more of a threat to our rights and liberties and the currency a tool it has to coerce them.

I am sorry but I do not have the same assumptions on the people in social media as you have. I cannot say for certain if these people are leftists, socialists or communists because they are also users, traders and holders of bitcoin, altcoins, DeFi, scamcoins, memecoins and many more categories. These people might be very much similar to you and me.

In any case, I am certainly skeptical, however, I wish Ammous the best of luck in his new job as El Salvador's economic advisor.

[aoluain]

Well, in the first place, it seems Ammous doesn't even have a strong background in economics. Although he's been teaching economics, he's actually an engineering graduate who has masters and doctorate degrees in the fields of development.

But he's probably studied the economics side of Bitcoin pretty well to have been able to produce a best-selling book on it. So he must have a fair amount of knowledge on Bitcoin.

Anyway, his is merely an advisory role. The president must have so many advisors and consultants left and right. Adding one more voice won't probably hurt, much less compromise, the entire economic roadmap of El Salvador.

This is similar to what happens here in my country and probably other countries,
our government leader us a qualified Doctor. Anyone here can run and try to be elected
by the people as a politician. Wasnt the president of Ukraine a comedian before
he ran for government?

You are right also in terms of "advisor", because of the point above government
leaders cant be specialists in every area of government, they need advisors who specialise
in a particular area.

I think it's an ok appointment, it would be different if he hired him for the department
of health...

[NotATether]

Well, in the first place, it seems Ammous doesn't even have a strong background in economics. Although he's been teaching economics, he's actually an engineering graduate who has masters and doctorate degrees in the fields of development.

But he's probably studied the economics side of Bitcoin pretty well to have been able to produce a best-selling book on it. So he must have a fair amount of knowledge on Bitcoin.

Anyway, his is merely an advisory role. The president must have so many advisors and consultants left and right. Adding one more voice won't probably hurt, much less compromise, the entire economic roadmap of El Salvador.

Two bestselling books. He also wrote The Fiat Standard (although I admittedly do not know whether that was ever a bestseller, I just want to point out that it exists).

I am not quite sure if this hiring of Ammous would be the best for El Salvador's Bitcoin roadmap. The comments that I have read on Ammous from social media are not very good and have also been skeptical in his qualifications as an economist.

At least one of the things in his social media is that he doesn't like all this Bitcoin environmental damage nonsense and seems to aggressively challenge it. Which is good for us as that "social attack vector" is being shut down.

[DeathAngel]

Seems like a very smart move to me. Ammous Is an extremely smart guy & it’s not like El Salvador is married to him, they can take him on in this advisory role to use his expertise. Hopefully it works out as a gery positive appointment but if not there is no problem to part ways. However, Ammous is likely to be a great attribute to the economy in ES.

[yudi09]

I am very impressed with Nayib Bukele who is so interested in the Bitcoin system. A young president who has good views on managing the economy.
I am not going to say whether or not it is appropriate or not to appoint Ammous by Nayib Bukele as the economic adviser to El Salvador, but I agree that the step taken by Nayib Bukele is very necessary.

In an effort to advance the country's economy, there needs to be someone who is specifically involved even though a president already has a minister in charge of economic issues.
For me this is a smart move.

Not-so-nice comments and doubts about his skills after appointing someone to be economic adviser would come across as normal and Nayib Bukele was aware of the situation.

[Ucy]

Don't know much about him nor have read his book... maybe the President saw something special in him others couldn't.. Probably has some talents in economics that need to be refined, which education from good quality school, experience possibly from Bitcoin or from someone who have mastered economics could possibly do.
From my experience, learning about Bitcoin and its economic model could actually transform a person into a better economist. But it would be hard to replicate the model in centralized system without issues. Could work in a True libertarian society though. I hope the president would truely implement the standard like Decentralization of Power for this to work out well for the country.

[mendace]

I honestly don't understand why Bukele made this choice after all there will be many qualified people in El Salvador too to be able to fill that role and I guess Saiffedean Ammous will fail to manage full time.  I think it's quite another Bukele's media campaign to get the attention of Bitcoiners back to their own country again as it has died down lately.  Let's see in the coming days if there is something more detailed.

[hatshepsut93]

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has onboarded Saiffedean Ammous – author of The Bitcoin Standard – as an Economic Advisor to the National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador.

So he's no getting appointed as advisor to ministry of economics, but only as an advisor for some Bitcoin Office, which doesn't have much power over the nations economy. Looks like El Salvador will not undergo hyperbitcoiniozation anytime soon, as Bukele is not going all in on Bitcoin with his country's entire economy.

[The Cryptovator]

I have doubts about whether hiring an advisor will actually benefit El Salvador. It appears that Nayib Bukele has unrealistic expectations regarding Bitcoin. It is crucial for him to understand the unpredictable nature of Bitcoin. If he intends to compel people, either directly or indirectly, to engage with Bitcoin, it may not be a wise decision. Bitcoin should be embraced as a flexible and accepted form of legal tender without excessive overthinking or attempts to coerce the citizens. Additionally, I disagree with the idea of investing any official funds into Bitcoin, but personal investments are a different matter.

[AmoreJaz]

I honestly don't understand why Bukele made this choice after all there will be many qualified people in El Salvador too to be able to fill that role and I guess Saiffedean Ammous will fail to manage full time.  I think it's quite another Bukele's media campaign to get the attention of Bitcoiners back to their own country again as it has died down lately.  Let's see in the coming days if there is something more detailed.

well, we will see the influence of Ammous to its people down the road, if this move will be good to their bitcoin initiatives. what i am wondering here is that after Bukele's term, what possibly may happen to his crypto projects? will the successor continue his crypto roadmap?
employing an economic advisor won't guarantee that they will be successful with their plans but we can't judge him yet about his capabilities.

[Baofeng]

Not really sure about this though, yeah maybe he is a good author after all, but it's totally different when you are hired in a government office.

Again, we support Bukele's here as being a Bitcoin advocate, but I'm thinking that the office created for Dr. Saifedean Ammous might be just for PR stunt as he needs someone to bring the face of Bitcoin in his side. And again, he could be a well gifted author, but being a economic advisor is two different things.

[Captain Corporate]

I mean it is definitely a step in the right direction, but you can't just expect a whole nation to get richer thanks to just bitcoin. You do not need just investment, investment is a one time thing, even if you gave the whole nation 1 trillion dollars today in cash, they would get better for a while but if the investments are not smart then they are going to be a poor again eventually. What do you need then? You need income, you need to use all the money you have on income, if you can have a bigger and bigger income, you can make bigger debt for even bigger income and keep growing. Thats how nations get better, this is a good direction there is no doubt about that, but I highly suggest them to eventually use this for bigger return for sure.

[Kelward]

Seems like a very smart move to me. Ammous Is an extremely smart guy & it’s not like El Salvador is married to him, they can take him on in this advisory role to use his expertise. Hopefully it works out as a gery positive appointment but if not there is no problem to part ways. However, Ammous is likely to be a great attribute to the economy in ES.

Indeed Ammous, was appointed not elected, as you have noted, if his advisory role does not align with the President's visions, at anytime the appointment can be terminated. I wish him the very best in his appointment, also hoping that presidents of other countries would emulate El Salvador's president to appoint knowledgeable individuals in bitcoin, into their governments.