Re:Bizarre Shadowy Paper-Based Payment System Being Rolled O...
by lexcorvus on Wednesday February 19, 2014 @01:13AM
(#7262113)
I see what you mean now by "mindless hoarding". This requires a more detailed discussion; happily, Henry Hazlitt has provided it:
http://steshaw.org/economics-in-one-lesson/chap24p3.html
See also Murray Rothbard's discussion:
http://mises.org/money/2s9.asp
You may not agree with their analyses, but at least they can serve as a counter-narrative to the mainstream views you evidently support.
By the way, your comment can be improved by removing everything before "not all forms..." In that case, it would simply make a cogent point (though one with which I still take exception). As it stands, your comment comes across as petty and unrefined. Stay classy—it's nicer, and it's also more likely to persuade.
No, you can't. In fact, it is interesting that you blamed me for attempting to short-circuit critical thinking, and then turned around and suggested something so asinine as this.
The reason it is asinine is because not all forms of saving are equal. A grandma stashing cash under the mattress does not help anyone else but the grandma, which is why it makes sense to discourage it using devaluation mechanics built into the economy. But if she invested that cash into a value-generating asset (e.g. a company, a piece of real estate, a public project, etc.), both her and the asset developer/owner would benefit: it would be possible to develop and maintain the asset, and she would reap greater returns. And just so we're clear, it's not like we're forcing grandma to take insane risks. Government bonds have historically been incredibly safe. So devaluation exists as a mechanic to say to grandma, "instead of mindlessly hoarding your money under the mattress, buy bonds with it. As a result, we (the government) will be able to fund public projects and you will be shielded from devaluation."
It is difficult to argue that this configuration is less optimal than one in which money never loses value.