Large multinationals have more power than those governments. It does not matter how their electorate votes.
Capital controls have historically been associated with despotic governments.
Why shouldn’t I be able to put my wealth where I want ?
Yes, it's a small individual loss (not being to invest in Libra) but probably a big collective gain.
Anybody who creates a product tries to persuade people to use their product. You can be a cynic and just attribute ill intent of basically everything but it's not really productive
Facebook doesn't control Libra. They have a non-controlling stake in the Libra Foundation, a non-profit.
That's fundamentally anti free market.
What you’re advocating for is a market with very clear boundaries, where everyone has equal access to the market but no one is allowed to do the things outside the market.
So it’s a “free market” in that no one has special powers. But it doesn’t make my American “freedom hairs” tingle because there’s a ton of stuff the government is telling you not to do.
I won’t make any argument as to which kind of freedom is more important in this case. But I do want to suggest that the more stuff you put in the “not allowed because the market can’t be administered fairly” bucket, the more of your GDP you cede to criminal organizations.
Because once it’s illegal, that’s just a big monopoly you handed to organized crime. And yes, organized crime does exist in Europe, and does control money supply.
So you have to be careful, there’s a devil’s bargain in both directions.
1. Since when is a currency a "product"? Did I miss a macroeconomics memo? — This statement is antithetic to the structure of modern economies, or to Facebook's claims about Libra for that matter.
2. As for cynicism, if you look at Facebook's history and mindset, their decisions and policy... I feel like "cynicism" qualifies as an appropriate response. — for reference: an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest; skepticism.
That part sounds good to me - tying together the international money and trade system has reduced the threat of war.
But that argument doesn't imply the need for a foreign (or domestic) corporation to administrate your currency.