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By Jon Danielsson, Director of the ESRC funded Systemic Risk Centre, London School of Economics. Originally published at VoxEUCryptocurrencies are supposedly a new and superior form of money and investments – the way of the future. The author of this column, however, does not see the point of cryptocurrencies, finding them no better than existing fiat money or good investments.I have been trying to understand what the point of cryptocurrencies is, without success. They may not be an immediate financial stability concern (den Haan et al. 2017), but I just don’t get them.As far as I can tell, they...

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,...

This thread is a friendly collaborative place for FReepers to analyze information and share opinons. FReepers have a wide variety of reasons for investigating Q Anon content; this is not the appropriate place to criticize or badger those who choose to use some of their time in this manner. This thread is a continuation of the prior Q Anon thread located here: http://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3636549/posts I plan to post one thread at a time and ping new drops posted to it. The current schedule is to post new threads Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. When I post each (new) thread, the prior thread...

CARACAS — Venezuela's diplomatically-isolated president received a show of support from Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday ahead of a weekend election boycotted by the opposition coalition and decried by Washington. The United States, the European Union and major Latin American countries have criticized Sunday's vote in which leftist President Nicolas Maduro is likely to win re-election to a six-year term. Critics say Maduro, a 55-year-old former bus driver who has presided over an economic meltdown, is virtually assured victory as two of his most popular opponents are banned from running and the electoral council is pro-government. The Trump administration...

You've heard of skunks at the garden party? Such as still-ruling Nicaraguan socialist strongman, Daniel Ortega, who got his famous nickname from none other than the great Ronald Reagan? Well, now we have pigs at the garden party of democracy, the Organization of American States' Summit of the Americas, and this time, quite literally. At the globally watched summit, locals released a bunch of pigs through the streets of the Peruvian capital of Lima, around the Plaza San Martin, which is one of its main public spaces, spray-painted with the names of Venezuela's dictator, Nicolas Maduro, and Cuba's dictator, Raul...

Here’s how most Venezuelans lost an average of 43 pounds in two years In May 2017, the Washington Post reported:In a recent survey of 6,500 Venezuelan families by the country’s leading universities, three-quarters of adults said they lost weight in 2016 — an average of 19 pounds… a level of hunger almost unheard-of outside war zones or areas ravaged by hurricane, drought or plague.In February 2018, Reuters reported:Venezuelans reported losing on average 11 kilograms (24 lbs) in body weight last year… according to a new university study…That’s 43 pounds in two years.Before I explain how this came to happen, I want...

Once there was a South American country with a promising future. It had a functioning democracy, a rapidly developing economy and a growing middle class. All the important indicators, including education, health care and foreign investment, were pointed in the right direction. It was far from perfect, but the mood was hopeful – and with good reason. But now all that promise is gone. The country is a failed state, a hollowed-out shell of its former self. Services like power and water are sporadic. The most basic consumer goods--from bread to toilet paper--are in chronically short supply. Crime has skyrocketed....

So, instead of writing about substantial things like the fraud constituent assembly deciding it will be in office for the next two years, taking as its first "measure" the removal from office of the general prosecutor Luisa Ortega and announcing that next week they will set up the inquisition truth commission I have to discuss what was either a failed coup or a stunt show........ What happened this morning in Venezuela was suspicious from the start..... It is 1PM+, 5 hours later and it smells fishier, too convenient for the regime......

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans appeared to be abstaining in massive numbers on Sunday in a show of silent protest against a vote to select a constitutional assembly giving the government virtually unlimited powers. Associated Press journalists toured more than two dozen polling places in neighborhoods across the capital, including many traditional strongholds of the ruling socialist party in southern and western Caracas. Virtually all the polling places saw hours-long lines of thousands of people in past elections over the last two decades of socialist government.

Venezuela's opposition controlled National Assembly has appointed 33 judges to the Supreme Court, prompting accusations of an attempted power grab. The assembly says it has the right to name and fire justices under the country's constitution. But the court, which largely made up of pro-government members, has described the move as illegal......

ESCALATED STREET PROTESTS AND 24-HOUR STRIKE ORGANIZED IN WEEKS LEADING UP TO ELECTION OF ASSEMBLY TO REWWRITE CONSTITUTION AFTER 7.1M PEOPLE REJECTED PROPOSAL. Venezuelan opposition leaders have called for their supporters to escalate street protests and support a 24-hour national strike later this week after more than 7.1 million people rejected a government plan to rewrite the constitution. "It is time for zero hour," said Freddy Guevara, a leading opposition figure on Monday. "We call on the whole country this to join massively and peacefully a national civic strike of 24 hours on Thursday as a mechanism of pressure and...

Last night I was writing that with a 5 million votes the opposition in Venezuela would have scored a magnificent success. It will be more than 7 which is an absolute trashing of the regime......

At least one person has been shot dead while waiting to vote in an unofficial, opposition-organized referendum in Venezuela. Men on motorbikes killed a woman and wounded three others in Caracas. One news agency, Reuters, is reporting two people died. Video from the scene showed people rushing away from the gunshots. Many fled to a church. Venezuela is in crisis and more than 100 people have died in political clashes since April......

So this is the situation. You have on one side the bad guys who hold all the firepower and are increasingly more willing to use it......

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Venezuelans head to the polls Sunday in a tense vote that the opposition hopes will mark a watershed--and the government insists means nothing. The weekend plebiscite will ask voters if they support the government's plan to elect and unpopular National Constituent Assembly that will overhaul the 1999 constitution. Critics, including some inside ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, fear that President Nicolas Maduro will use the new entity to tighten his hold on the South American country and further delay-or outright cancel--elections. "The Constituent Assembly is a fraud, because it doesn't resolve any of the problems that Venezuelans are...

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has been moved to house arrest after more than three years in jail. He left a prison near Caracas at dawn and was reunited with his family..... Hours after being freed, Lopez urged supporters to continue protesting against President Nicolas Maduro....

About 100 government supporters burst into Venezuela's opposition controlled National Assembly, where they beat up several lawmakers. Witnesses said the confrontation came after an assembly session to mark the country's Independence Day. Military police guarding the side stood by as intruders brandishing sticks and pipes broke through the gate..... Venezuelan newspaper Tal Cual blamed the attack on militias known as "colectivos", and said the group fired rockets and bangers as they forced their way in. Its report said some of the deputies attacked "fell to the ground and were kicked"........

Venezuela's pro-government Supreme Court heard a petition on Tuesday to remove dissident state prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who was expecting the ax after alleging rights abuses and erosion of democracy under President Nicolas Maduro. Ortega, the main challenger to Maduro from within the ruling socialist movement during three months of opposition protests, said she would not recognize legal proceedings against her by an "unconstitutional and illegitimate" Supreme Court...... Protestors across the oil-rich nation of 30 million set up road blockades "against the dictatorship" on Tuesday afternoon...... The opposition wants to ramp up pressure ahead of Maduro's planned vote on July 30...

The opposition MUD is subjected to tremendous challenges, all coming from the fact that they need to face off a criminal-narco-state without any help from the outside police. Why the world is not acting on Veneuela knowing very well that it risks receiving a refugee wave of millions is the subject of another text. Never mind that if the regime manages to hold power at the cost of a dictatorial communist "constitution" and thousands of deaths this will set a bad precedent for regimes dreaming of such a perpetuation of outcome, like Bolivia, the FARC in Colombia, Nicaragua, to name...

Venezuela's Supreme Court has banned the attorney general from leaving the country and frozen all of her assets. The court, which is dominated by government loyalists, said Luisa Ortega Diaz had committed serious errors. Ms. Ortega, once a staunch government ally, broke ranks in March, when she said an attempt by the Supreme Court to strip the opposition-controlled Congress of its powers was unlawful. Critics believe President Nicolas Maduro is trying to push Ms. Ortega out. She faces a hearing on 4 July--some analysts say she may eventually be put on trial. The move comes amid growing political turmoil in...