[Cryptography] Montana: A Post-Quantum Blockchain with Time as Scarcity

[John Levine]

It appears that Mert Ali Bulut <mrtblt at hotmail.com.tr> said:
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>Dear, Bill
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>Inflation is indeed necessary, and money needs to be spent, but if there's no limit to the supply, it leads to
>inflation that becomes a crisis, like in Germany after World War I, ...

We need a rule of thumb that says that as soon as you mention the German hyperinflation,
you've lost the argument.

Germany in 1923 was in a unique situation. They'd lost the war, and the victors
were demanding gigantic reparations that they could not pay. The hyperinflation
was a deliberate and successful strategy to make it impossible to collect. Most
hyperinflation episodes similarly had a political motivation. If you have not
just lost a major war and had a change in government, this situation does not
apply to you.

I understand the arguments for deflationary cryptocurrencies. I don't think
they're very good arguments (viz. Woody's recent message) but they're not
absurd, in line with conventional economic wisdom in the late 1800s.
Hyperinflation has nothing to do with it.

R's,
John

PS: Fans of deflation should note that the US dollar deflated about 7% each year
in 1921-22 and again 1930-33. and we all know how fantastic the economy was
then.