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But all snark aside, I think this is part in parcel with the general observation that money as a stored good has mostly negative impacts beyond some amount amount proportional to single digit multipliers of median annual income.
It does, it's called inflation.
So you came to this thread and saw this comment made 18 minutes before yours, with replies to that comment, and just reposted the same irrelevant, dismissive, low-effort comment? Did you think it needed to be said twice? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38294857 On an unrelated note, HN rules forbid me from implying that a commenter has not read the article.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> there could be incentives to hoard/save it Yes -- for a while. Not forever. This is a feature, not a bug. Hoarding/saving for short periods of time (relative to human life spans) is a good thing. It helps damp out transients. Hoarding/saving for long periods of time is bad because it discourages people from taking risks by putting resources to productive use.
The idea that people need to be encouraged to consume (consumption being the opposite of saving) I don't think is supported by economic theory.
No. The opposite of saving is spending. You can spend on capital as well as consumption. Inflation only devalues cash, i.e. money you keep in your mattress. You can avoid inflation by either consuming or investing, both of which help keep the economy humming along.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I carry around a piece of hard currency (1901 Silver Dollar) to remind me of what real money is like... it's always been worth about 4 retail gallons of gasoline. I expect that trend to continue for at least another decade. Soft money, tends towards zero, as you said.
I keep 200 Swiss Francs in my drawer, because the last time inflation in that country went above 4% was in the 90s and the last time they had war on their soil was in 1847. Over here this should afford you a month's worth of groceries for up to two people if you're careful with your spending.
Money is a contract with the state. It expires with the state. Physical paper bills also do wear out. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2023/old...
Soft money is a contract with the state, hard money doesn't expire. A $1 silver dollar coin from 1901 is worth a heck of a lot more than a $1 bill from the same time.
Hard money is a contract with generalized civilization that only has value so long as civilization continues to organize and complexify our resources. A $1 silver dollar coin still has a lot of objective value because civilization still provides lots of good and useful stuff for us to consume.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I carry around a piece of hard currency (1901 Silver Dollar) to remind me of what real money is like... it's always been worth about 4 retail gallons of gasoline. I expect that trend to continue for at least another decade. Soft money, tends towards zero, as you said.
I keep 200 Swiss Francs in my drawer, because the last time inflation in that country went above 4% was in the 90s and the last time they had war on their soil was in 1847. Over here this should afford you a month's worth of groceries for up to two people if you're careful with your spending.
Money do expire! There is inflation... I would like similar system for land ownership and buildings. Property taxes at level of 5%. In China land can not be owned, but only leased for 70 years.
Yeah but inflation also affects rich people you see. With this we can have selective inflation but only for proles
When rich people use cash it's usually borrowed as needed.
Money do expire! There is inflation... I would like similar system for land ownership and buildings. Property taxes at level of 5%. In China land can not be owned, but only leased for 70 years.
> Money do expire! There is inflation... If someone put 1 dollar on the bank in 1900, then what would it be worth now, considering both inflation and interest?
However, in 1900 you used to be able to buy 70 pounds of potatoes for $1. Now you can buy 1 potato.
So yeah I would say that's pretty expired.
https://historycollection.com/30-things-you-could-buy-for-1-...