Money and Banking

Saifedean Ammous explains why Austrian economics helps us understand Bitcoin, and how Bitcoin can help us understand Austrian economics.

The depreciation of the yuan since 2014 is more of a response to market movements than a planned devaluation to gain competitiveness illegitimately.

In a true market — i.e., without a central bank — banks are intermediaries of real savings in their lending activities, thus promoting genuine and real economic growth.

The movement for alternative money is the result of the history of government monetary mismanagement.

Not only does fractional-reserve banking gives rise to monetary inflation it is also responsible for monetary deflation. Money created out of "thin air" can disappear as rapidly as it was created.

The destruction of capital, economic and otherwise, is contrary to every human impulse.

Neither loose monetary policy, nor big-spending fiscal policy can grow an economy. All that these policies can do is to redistribute a given pool of real savings from wealth generators toward non-wealth generating activities.

The eurozone economy is slowing down. The solution isn't more fiscal and monetary stimuli. 

The US dollar continues to enjoy the confidence of markets, governments, and central banks. But faith in the US dollar is weakening, and many are trying to help the process along.

Since real savings enable the production of capital goods, obviously real savings are at the heart of the economic growth that raises people's living standards.