Climate Denial, Anti-vax and Bitcoin. Can you Really Connect Those Dots?
Paul Krugman Thinks You Can
If you’ve read this newsletter for a while, you may remember that I wrote an article asking, basically, are Bitcoiners right-wing, left-wing, or just staunch Libertarians. The answer was mixed, at best. It seems Bitcoin can’t be clearly tied to any one political persuasion. Here’s the link to that article:
Is Bitcoin a Right-wing Thing?
Paul Krugman, a nationally syndicated columnist, thinks that, yes, you can connect the dots among those three things. Climate-change denial and being anti-COVID vaccine are generally thought of as being positions taken by those on the conservative side of the political ledger. It’s not universal, of course, but a general observation that seems to hold some water.
First, a little background on Krugman. He’s an economist and academic, educated at Yale and MIT, and also a Nobel prize winner in economics. But here’s what Krugman is most famous (or infamous) for:
Ouch. That was a swing and a miss.
So, just consider where Paul is coming from. He’s not big on the potential of new technologies, to be sure. Krugman has stated that he hasn’t seen a problem that cryptocurrencies actually solve. OK, so he’s fine with fiat currencies that can be printed at will, debasing the value of all existing currency. That’s his opinion, but just how does he connect all of the above “dots?”
In a recent syndicated column, Krugman attempts to tie these concepts together and attribute them to “an intellectually inbred community of very wealthy men.” Wow. Where to begin?
I’ll analyze Krugman’s comments from the aspect of the “cryptocurrency cultism,” as he puts it. First, he throws a pejorative term out there such as “inbred,” so you know he’s not looking at things objectively. Second, he seems to say that crypto, and yes, Bitcoin, supporters are all men. And wealthy men at that. Those two assumptions couldn’t be farther from the truth. There are quite a few prominent female Bitcoiners and developers, and many crytpto holders are not wealthy at all.
“Paranoid American Plutocrats”
Well, a plutocracy is a society that is ruled by people of great wealth. And I would say that in the United States, you could make an argument that there is a plutocracy. He labels them as paranoid by pointing out that some question the effectiveness of vaccines, and that some question the severity of changes in the climate. I’m not debating the merits of those positions, as I’m not a scientist or an expert in either of those fields. Neither is Mr. Krugman.
These wealthy plutocrats are so paranoid, Paul says, that they question the soundness of the current fiat monetary system. Well, how could you not question a system where the money supply is increased at will literally every day, causing ever-present inflation? These paranoid tech types, says Krugman, look at fiat currency as a type of Ponzi scheme that will bring us hyper inflation, a la Venezuela or other nations.
Is it paranoia to think that a country that exists by borrowing money every day, just to pay back the older borrowers, may be promoting its own style of Ponzi scheme? Krugman seems to think so. He says, “there’s a widespread belief the genertions-old system of fiat money issued by governments is a Ponzi scheme that will collapse into hyperinflation any day now.” Yes, there is. For good reason, in my opinion.
“The Tech Types”
Krugman also dismisses “tech types” the way he dismissed the potential of the internet. That was also created by the techies. It’s worked out pretty well, again in my opinion. He says that these tech types believe they can invent a better system of currency than we have now. Well, just why couldn’t they? Currencies, especially the world’s reserve currencies, have come and gone throughout history. Every single system of money has had a finite life, a definite ending. Salt, beads, shells, livestock, stones, you name it. (Every product has a finite life. Learned that in a graduate school marketing class.)
His dismissal of the techie crowd includes the absurd allegation that they “tech types” haven’t done any research into the history of monetary systems or even spoken to any monetary experts. Again, this isn’t even close to true. Sorry, Paul. It seems he hasn’t even taken the time to read and of the outstanding works, written by economists, that explain the virtues of Bitcoin over fiat currencies.
(Economist Saifedean Ammous’ The Bitcoin Standard and The Fiat Standard come to mind. And there are many others.)
And a Final Insult From Krugman
Paul Krugman has been hating on Bitcoin since it was priced at about $7.
As he continues to be more and more wrong, he gets nastier in his critique of Bitcoin and of crypto in general. This column was his attempt to tie together three things that he can’t stand. In doing so, he displays a nasty side, blames Libertarians and Republicans for all of the world’s evils, and lobs insults at various groups. The wealthy, the techies, men, conservatives, and more. It appears he’s still angry about his whiff on that internet prediction.
Here’s his biggest insult on these topics:
“Anti-vax agitation and crypto enthusiasm are both aspects of a broader rise of know-nothingism.”
Ouch again. He can be downright insulting when he wants to. Though he’s a Yale and MIT-educated scholar, he had humble beginnings, and actually was born in Albany, New York.
His writings and views are a long way from Albany.
He’s still hating on Bitcoin. And he doesn’t even back it up with anything that’s actually true. But maybe I’m full of that know-nothingism.
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Issue No. 122, September 8, 2023
Rick Mulvey is a CPA, crypto consultant, and frequent contributor to Bitcoin Magazine. He writes about all things Bitcoin, and yells at the Yankees and Giants. He also runs marathons and makes wine, neither professionally.