France and Germany Agree to Block Facebook's Libra

Post by bko » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:50 PM UTC

jayd16 wrote: post #438

bko wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Full reserve: > By fully backing each coin with a set of stable and liquid assets (described later) and by working with a competitive group of exchanges and other liquidity providers, users can have confidence that they will be able to sell any Libra coin at or close to the value of the reserve at any time. [0] They'll fund expenses from the return of the investments. > How will the reserve be invested? Users of Libr…

That doesn't sound like a full reserve though as its not 100% cash. It says right there that its partially invested in risky assets. Whether they're low risk is just an opinion. But even assuming it was a full reserve, I don't think its fundamentally different enough to be allowed to skirt the existing laws.

Post by JAlexoid » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:51 PM UTC

buboard wrote: post #371

blackbrokkoli wrote: post #225

I'm of course not familiar with the specific mindsets and the history of this decision, but I want to share a bit of cultural perspective from Germany that is so far not really considered in this comment section: Germany is very, very keen on preventing powerful entities from acting outside of regulation and similarly, if not more, on preventing a single entity to get in control of everything. This is largely due to…

Ironically, Germany generally also controls the Euro for the so called PIIGS countries. For all intents and purposes the euro is just as much as an externally-controlled entity as the Libra.

Post by dantheman » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:57 PM UTC

burlesona wrote: post #389

lacker wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strange part to me is just that there are already hundreds of crypto currencies available in Germany. When the government says that yes, these hundreds of currencies are fine, but Facebook can’t create one, then it just seems like the policy is anti-Facebook for the sake of being anti-Facebook.

It's legally tricky to be anti-Facebook for the sake of being anti-Facebook, but I don't think it's morally tricky. The entire idea of anti-trust (and frankly, the premise of most western democracies) is to prevent the over-concentration of power. Facebook is the most powerful private entity on the earth right now, far more powerful than most nation states. I'm not sure that we as a society have ever dealt with a non…

Post by dantheman » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:58 PM UTC

TuringNYC wrote: post #447

downandout wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is the most powerful private entity on the earth right now, far more powerful than most nation states. This is hyperbole at best. Facebook does not have an army, weapons, or literally anyone that would be willing to die or even be physically put out to defend it. I’m no Facebook fan, but let’s not let Facebook hysteria overrun these comments.

It is unrealistically limiting to think modern wars are fought only with armies. Most wars are quiet and fought with capital, thought, rhetoric, and policy. Armies only come into the picture if all else fails.

Post by dantheman » Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 7:59 PM UTC

TulliusCicero wrote: post #444

kypro wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe has developed a fairly anti-US-big-tech attitude recently. As a Brit I kind of understand it. We probably don't benefit from importing all of our 21st century products and services from the US, especially when these companies don't pay any taxes in our countries. Europe as a market has higher taxes, more regulation, and has more cultural barriers giving us a huge disadvantage when trying to compete in the glob…

> We probably don't benefit from importing all of our 21st century products and services from the US This amounts to "our country is bad at [thing], so let's restrict trade for [thing] to protect our industries." Of course it sounds great until other countries counter by restricting the thing you are good at, and then everyone loses.