'@rphb' looks like it's time to wrap this up, so I'll make this reply my last.
1) ok, I'll have to figure out a better method of forgery then :)
2) we probably will never agree on whether it is important or not
2.2) there are bitcoin mixers that anonymize payments, if their use is prohibited there are now more or less established cryptocurrencies which are specifically designed to be anonymous. I concede that bribe is more conveniently paid in physical items since it does not require access to net and having relevant applications downloaded, though I'd say that cash or jewelry will work better than gold coins, unless they are already mainstream at that time and place.
4) Term "hyperinflation" is supposed to mean inflation with rate of about 20% or more. I'd say that 14% peak is close enough. What worked for Panama didn't turn out that good for Greece. Common monetary policy also requires common fiscal policy, otherwise one member of monetary bloc can threaten stability of everyone else. Adoption of USD or gold in this case does not eliminate monetary policy, it just moves control of it to something outside of local government. Since historically countries on gold standard still had recessions and market crises, there will always remain a political pressure to return to fiat money or at least dilute standard somehow, like moving to bimetallic standard or something else.
As for "Road to Ruin", another issue is that economy of even a single country is not just a system - it's a system of systems, and each one of those learns, adapts to current situation, tries to change current rules in it's favor and has something similar to will to live. The fact that various actors in economy will predict, influence, exploit or work against new rules in measures indeed means that reliable regulation is difficult. New crisis may indeed be more severe than previous, but in order for economy to rearrange itself to new conditions the only thing that is required is for government to create no additional uncertainty. Appropriate monetary policy can facilitate the process by countering the loss of liquidity that usually occurs during the crisis.
5) since we already went through pros and cons of gold standard, I'll just point out why I'm more optimistic about having cryptocurrencies as "private money" than government in developed country moving to some sort of standard stricter than current fiat systems.
As long as political climate remains the same, government will never move out of regulating money supply. Regulation creep in less significant matters is difficult if not impossible to reverse, money supply is one of the pillars of government policy. Having a government that regulates everything it does now, but not money is about as easy and lasting as splitting the Red Sea. Expectation of regulation is why mainstream adoption of bitcoin led to creation of less known cryptocurrencies geared specifically for privacy and servicing the "shadow economy".
Unless there is a major shift in attitude toward government and policy, only way to for something to remain outside of top-down regulation and manipulation by bureaucracy is to be either too obscure or too new.
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'@rphb' looks like it's time to wrap this up, so I'll make this reply my last.
1) ok, I'll have to figure out a better method of forgery then :)
2) we probably will never agree on whether it is important or not
2.2) there are bitcoin mixers that anonymize payments, if their use is prohibited there are now more or less established cryptocurrencies which are specifically designed to be anonymous. I concede that bribe is more conveniently paid in physical items since it does not require access to net and having relevant applications downloaded, though I'd say that cash or jewelry will work better than gold coins, unless they are already mainstream at that time and place.
4) Term "hyperinflation" is supposed to mean inflation with rate of about 20% or more. I'd say that 14% peak is close enough. What worked for Panama didn't turn out that good for Greece. Common monetary policy also requires common fiscal policy, otherwise one member of monetary bloc can threaten stability of everyone else. Adoption of USD or gold in this case does not eliminate monetary policy, it just moves control of it to something outside of local government. Since historically countries on gold standard still had recessions and market crises, there will always remain a political pressure to return to fiat money or at least dilute standard somehow, like moving to bimetallic standard or something else.
As for "Road to Ruin", another issue is that economy of even a single country is not just a system - it's a system of systems, and each one of those learns, adapts to current situation, tries to change current rules in it's favor and has something similar to will to live. The fact that various actors in economy will predict, influence, exploit or work against new rules in measures indeed means that reliable regulation is difficult. New crisis may indeed be more severe than previous, but in order for economy to rearrange itself to new conditions the only thing that is required is for government to create no additional uncertainty. Appropriate monetary policy can facilitate the process by countering the loss of liquidity that usually occurs during the crisis.
5) since we already went through pros and cons of gold standard, I'll just point out why I'm more optimistic about having cryptocurrencies as "private money" than government in developed country moving to some sort of standard stricter than current fiat systems.
As long as political climate remains the same, government will never move out of regulating money supply. Regulation creep in less significant matters is difficult if not impossible to reverse, money supply is one of the pillars of government policy. Having a government that regulates everything it does now, but not money is about as easy and lasting as splitting the Red Sea. Expectation of regulation is why mainstream adoption of bitcoin led to creation of less known cryptocurrencies geared specifically for privacy and servicing the "shadow economy".
Unless there is a major shift in attitude toward government and policy, only way to for something to remain outside of top-down regulation and manipulation by bureaucracy is to be either too obscure or too new.