Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Says Bitcoin “Ought to be Outlawed” (Video)

Futurism.com ^ | November 30, 2017 | Patrick Caughill

[E. Pluribus Unum]

A Nobel Prize-winning economist says that Bitcoin should be outlawed. He states that the currency holds no real function and can easily be brought down by regulation.

ROUGE CURRENCY

The 2001 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Joseph Stiglitz, voiced some strong opinions about Bitcoin in his latest interview with Bloomberg Television. Stiglitz is a former economic advisor to the Clinton Administration and chief economist of the World Bank; he currently serves as a Professor at Columbia University.

Stiglitz told Bloomberg that “Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight.” He continued, offering a harsh rebuke and recommendation for the future of the world’s most popular and successful cryptocurrency, “So it seems to me it ought to be outlawed. It doesn’t serve any socially useful function.”

This interview took place shortly after Bitcoin crossed yet another staggering milestone, surpassing $10,000 and even $11,000 in value. At these levels, Bitcoin is among the 30 largest currencies in the world.

Bitcoin is often a target of experts who predict its wild successes and others who forsee the bubble bursting. This rollercoaster valuation ride often gives each side evidence to support their predictions, yet Stiglitz points to regulation from Washington as a potential sniper’s bullet that could bring the entire currency down.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Statists hate blockchain currencies because they cannot be manipulated or confiscated by the state.

[ClearCase_guy]

I have wait and see how Paul Krugman feels about this ...

[moovova]

“ROUGE CURRENCY”

Red money? Isn’t that raciss?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I didn’t even notice that. Heh.

[cgbg]

“Cannot be manipulated or confiscated” is a bit strong.

The sovereign (aka large criminal gang) can do anything—some forms of control are just more difficult than others.

[moovova]

Neither did the arthur. ;-)

[E. Pluribus Unum]

You can circumvent a lot of it by maintaining your own wallet instead of trusting a third party.

[Still Thinking]

Stiglitz told Bloomberg that “Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight.

That sentence could only be written by a statist traitor to freedom. I don't have any feelings one way is the other about Bitcoin per second, but why would a currency EVER be presumed to need "oversight"? It's already held by private citizens, who are the top of the heap, respect-wise. Goobermint is just a collection of and parasitic drones kept around so the stop lights work.

[Leaning Right]

> “So it seems to me it ought to be outlawed. It doesn’t serve any socially useful function.” <

That’s the most dangerous phrase in the entire article. Very Stalinist.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

You have to admit, BitCoin has the right enemies.

[Tonytitan]

Good luck trying to enforce that.

[gaijin]

The Nobel committee arrived at their decision to award Obama his Nobel Prize after just 10 days of his first term.

10 days..!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

" It doesn’t serve any socially useful function.”

Who defines “socially useful?” I hate to break it to you, Mr. Stiglitz, but the job of defining “socially useful” is above your pay grade. And would be, even if you were the president of the United States. Society determines what is useful to itself.

You are objecting that “society” and “government” are the same thing. I had a high school teacher who made the same assertion, back during the Eisenhower Administration. He did not persuade me then, and still less can you do so now. The error was not new even when I first heard it:

SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins.

Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness;

the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices.

The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions.

The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil - Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

As an economist, Mr. Stiglitz, it is incumbent on you to understand the article I, Pencil which was written in 1958 by Leonard E. Read. The burden of the article is how diffuse are the inputs to make a simple item like a pencil. Of course a particular company - Eberhard Faber, in the example instance - made the pencil. But Mr. Eberhard and Mr. Faber did not simply speak the pencil into existence; the company has to have buildings housing machinery, and workers to operate the machines. But beyond that, the Eberhard Faber workers have to have food, shelter, and normal amenities - including those required by their families.

And the same is true of the vendors who supply Eberhard Faber with the machinery they require, and all the obvious materials - wood, graphite, rubber, and the ferrule material and the enamel. All those vendors have their own equipment, workers, and supply chain. And in all cases the workers need food, shelter, and normal amenities. So although the pencil certainly does not exist without Eberhard Faber, society works together to make pencils - and everything else.

So, “you didn't build that? Somebody else made that happen?” Yes - but that “somebody else” was not government. The “somebody” was more like everybody - mostly very indirectly.

And if society builds Bitcoin as a means to limit the “necessary evil” of government, it is not for you to say it nay.

[Reno89519]

I agree. It’s only purpose is to launder money, facilitate illegal activity (e.g., drugs), and evade taxes. The only legal currency in the US should be the US Dollar, which should be reestablished as the leading and benchmark currency for the world. A real shame we watched this get undermined in recent years.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sounds like government is your God.

[Taiku]

My very first thought on reading this was “Nobel prize winning economist”=Klugman ......

Joe Weisenthal writes, “Gold has real value because it’s shiny and can be used for jewelry...” So do those little aluminum gum-wrappers my kids used to make necklaces out of...

Gold has value solely because people believe it has value. Intrinsically it is a metal,nothing more. The dollar or any other fiat currency has value solely because people believe it has value (trusting - many times naively - the ‘full faith and credit’ of the issuer). Bitcoin (the currency not the technology) has value because people believe it has value, and more people are believing it every day.

Bitcoin’s function? To UNBANK the masses, not to be a new bank. To give a person control over his own money, not have an outside authority, be it a government or a financial institution, controlling its access and determining how and how much of it the person can use at any given time. Here in the US it is hard to understand that because things are relatively stable, but around the world, in places like Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Argentina, etc, the NECESSITY of removing one’s finances from government or institutional control is overwhelming! And THAT is what is driving Bitcoin’s value up, and increasing it’s acceptance.

[genghis]

Statist traitor to freedom? Can you think of one democrat that isn’t?

[Reno89519]

The government is us, the American people, and if there is a problem with that connection, fix it. That said, yes, we should, our government should stop money laundering and tax evasion, should prevent criminal conduct (such as drug dealing). What is not conservative about that?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

So you're saying those things don't happen with US currency?

You seem to be holding currency that isn't controlled and manipulated by the state to a higher standard.

[i_robot73]

>
Gold has value solely because people believe it has value. Intrinsically it is a metal,nothing more.
>

Slight correction: value is also based upon the SCARCITY of said metal. True, it is a metal, but a metal w/ certain PROPERTIES as well (non-oxidizing, electric transfer, etc.), again increasing its *value*.

Concur w/ your points vs. BitCoin. One only need at the recent run on banks in Greece/like to see WHY people would want to ‘get away’.

On a side note, did anyone else read ‘War War Z’?? The end of the book also went into the ‘rebuild’ of the NASDAQ and $$...barter had been so ingrained by the survivors, govt (as usual) believing it HAD to but in again to tell the masses what ‘money’ was $$.

Control the food, health & $$$...