Re:Freicoin: bitcoin-like currency from the Occupy movement
by hogu on Monday June 25, 2012 @01:49PM
(#4157638)
how does one prevent someone from trading in their demurrage currency for something that holds its value when they do want to store value?
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Re:Freicoin: bitcoin-like currency from the Occupy movement
by pacaro on Monday June 25, 2012 @02:00PM
(#4157686)
This is Keynes argument against Demurrage Currency, the fees can be evaded by using a competing currency. When demurrage has been used successfully in the past, the main competing currency has been broken (30's Austria, depression era USA)
Re:Freicoin: bitcoin-like currency from the Occupy movement
by maaku on Monday June 25, 2012 @01:59PM
(#4157683)
Nothing, in fact that is encouraged. I could imagine having a “checking account” in demurrage currency that my paycheck is deposited into, but at the end of the week or month I sweep excess funds (my savings) into a “savings account” backed by treasury bonds, gold, bitcoin, or similar.
The point is to keep cash itself in circulation, regardless of economic circumstances. Had we a demurrage currency in 2008, we might not have had as severe a “credit crunch” as we did--people would still want to loan or invest even in bad times. Demurrage removes, through negative incentive, the “sinks” where money can end up in unproductive storage on the ledger of some company or individual somewhere, and instead keeps it flowing through the economy.
Re:Freicoin: bitcoin-like currency from the Occupy movement
by debacle on Monday June 25, 2012 @02:10PM
(#4157756)
That's not how economics works. We had a 'credit crunch' because billions of dollars in market value was disappearing, sometimes overnight, devaluing securities. A new currency that no one wants to hold for longer than they have to isn't going to change that.