Have you ever seen an actual economist say this? I have a feeling Stross got his economy degree from a cereal box. Bitcoin is not the first asset in history to appreciate. Why haven't the wild swings we've seen in gold, oil, pork bellies, etc. had the horrible results you predict?

"Deflation" doesn't even relate to assets people aren't forced by law or other circumstances to use for regular commerce. For normal, non-currency assets like that, we say "appreciation" instead of "deflation". If 6 billion people decided to "hoard" BTC tomorrow, I guarantee there would be plenty of dollars/rubles/whatever available for investment, lending, and spending.

Honestly the hoarding argument is dumber than the precision argument, so I tried to give Stross the benefit of the doubt.

Oh so it's an asset now is it? I'll be sure to remember that next time a 'coiner tells me it's the world's best currency or payment method.

Deflation is only relevant if we're talking about BTC as a currency, which people do and therefore it's part of the discussion.