Bitcoin 'Ought to Be Outlawed,' Economist Joseph Stiglitz Says

[ClaytonB]

The the BTCer goal is for BTC to become the predominant money of the black market, that's entirely possible.

But it's also a far cry from BTC replacing the USD/EUR/etc, since black markets are a small fraction of total economic activity.

That's missing the point. If the government cannot ban Bitcoin, then Bitcoin may just replace USD/EUR whether the government likes it or not. Sure, Leviathan can keep everyone with a mortgage or a small-business in line with threats of audit, seizure, time-behind-bars etc. But unless the State can stop the informal economy, it may take over by de facto means rather than de jure. When enough people do business in Bitcoin without snitching themselves out to the State about it, it won't matter whose name is on the house, its use will go to the people who can actually afford it based on their real economic purchasing power. Perhaps Mom & Pop will stay away from owning Bitcoin and keep their name on the house out of fear of being punished for transitioning out of fiat - but they'll still have to rent the house out to people with Bitcoin so they can afford to put food on the table and keep the lights on when that devaluated SSI just doesn't cut it anymore. One can dream...

 

[r3volution 3.0]

That's missing the point. If the government cannot ban Bitcoin, then Bitcoin may just replace USD/EUR whether the government likes it or not. Sure, Leviathan can keep everyone with a mortgage or a small-business in line with threats of audit, seizure, time-behind-bars etc. But unless the State can stop the informal economy, it may take over by de facto means rather than de jure. When enough people do business in Bitcoin without snitching themselves out to the State about it, it won't matter whose name is on the house, its use will go to the people who can actually afford it based on their real economic purchasing power. Perhaps Mom & Pop will stay away from owning Bitcoin and keep their name on the house out of fear of being punished for transitioning out of fiat - but they'll still have to rent the house out to people with Bitcoin so they can afford to put food on the table and keep the lights on when that devaluated SSI just doesn't cut it anymore. One can dream...

I started to write a response to this, about the limits of the black market, and ended up starting a thread instead.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...ics-Of-The-Black-Market&p=6561756#post6561756

 

[Mordan]

I started to write a response to this, about the limits of the black market, and ended up starting a thread instead.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...ics-Of-The-Black-Market&p=6561756#post6561756

man how can you write about something you do not understand.

The black market is not using Bitcoin anymore. They use privacy coins like Monero. And if they bring it down, they will use Dash or ZCash..

The crypto currencies are a reality. deal with it.