Failure is an option

#1

Post by billderose » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 2:21 AM UTC

Re: Failure is an option

#2

Post by millstone » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 4:14 AM UTC

> I have some predictions: Gox will not be bailed out.

MtGox will not be bailed out because of the relative unimportance of bitcoin to the larger economy, not of any high-minded free market idealism.

Since the MtGox explosion, bitcoin prices (and therefore real purchasing power) are down by about 30%. If bitcoin were a national currency, the government would be doing everything in its power to prevent such a decline, including saving MtGox by any means possible. It would absolutely be too big to fail.

By way of comparison, Greece's economic woes drove its real purchasing power down by about 11%.

Re: Failure is an option

#3

Post by Pitarou » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 4:53 AM UTC

millstone wrote: post #2

> I have some predictions: Gox will not be bailed out. MtGox will not be bailed out because of the relative unimportance of bitcoin to the larger economy, not of any high-minded free market idealism. Since the MtGox explosion, bitcoin prices (and therefore real purchasing power) are down by about 30%. If bitcoin were a national currency, the government would be doing everything in its power to prevent such a decline,…

I think the writer was comparing Mt. Gox to certain US financial institutions, not Greece.

And this isn't "high-minded free market idealism". It's a practical observation. The state has given unconditional support to large financial institutions; institutions that are owned and managed for private profit. How can that possibly end well?

Re: Failure is an option

#4

Post by kens » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 5:05 AM UTC

If Mt Gox were a bank, it wouldn't be big enough to make the Wikipedia list of US bank failures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_U.S._bank_failu... (I don't have a hidden agenda with that comment - I just found it interesting.)

And on a totally unrelated note, pivoting off the title: I think the "failure is not an option" philosophy led to a lot of NASA's problems.

Re: Failure is an option

#5

Post by gpcz » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 5:21 AM UTC

kens wrote: post #4

If Mt Gox were a bank, it wouldn't be big enough to make the Wikipedia list of US bank failures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_U.S._bank_failu... (I don't have a hidden agenda with that comment - I just found it interesting.) And on a totally unrelated note, pivoting off the title: I think the "failure is not an option" philosophy led to a lot of NASA's problems.

Can you expand on your opinion regarding NASA's problems stemming from "failure is not an option?" Based on Gene Kranz's Wikipedia page, specifically the "Failure is not an option" section ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Kranz#.22Failure_is_not_an... ), this is a complicated and controversial topic.

Re: Failure is an option

#6

Post by thesimpsons1022 » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 6:20 AM UTC

Pitarou wrote: post #3

millstone wrote: post #2

> I have some predictions: Gox will not be bailed out. MtGox will not be bailed out because of the relative unimportance of bitcoin to the larger economy, not of any high-minded free market idealism. Since the MtGox explosion, bitcoin prices (and therefore real purchasing power) are down by about 30%. If bitcoin were a national currency, the government would be doing everything in its power to prevent such a decline,…

I think the writer was comparing Mt. Gox to certain US financial institutions, not Greece. And this isn't "high-minded free market idealism". It's a practical observation. The state has given unconditional support to large financial institutions; institutions that are owned and managed for private profit. How can that possibly end well?

the writer is the owner of the blockchain website so he does have his biases

Re: Failure is an option

#7

Post by ok_craig » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 6:36 AM UTC

thesimpsons1022 wrote: post #6

Pitarou wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the writer was comparing Mt. Gox to certain US financial institutions, not Greece. And this isn't "high-minded free market idealism". It's a practical observation. The state has given unconditional support to large financial institutions; institutions that are owned and managed for private profit. How can that possibly end well?

the writer is the owner of the blockchain website so he does have his biases

He is not the owner, he is the CSO.

Re: Failure is an option

#8

Post by VanV » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 6:37 AM UTC

thesimpsons1022 wrote: post #6

Pitarou wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the writer was comparing Mt. Gox to certain US financial institutions, not Greece. And this isn't "high-minded free market idealism". It's a practical observation. The state has given unconditional support to large financial institutions; institutions that are owned and managed for private profit. How can that possibly end well?

the writer is the owner of the blockchain website so he does have his biases

FWIW, my understanding is that he is just the chief security officer at Blockchain.info [1], and not one of the owners.

[1] http://antonopoulos.com/

Re: Failure is an option

#9

Post by victoro » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 7:42 AM UTC

Failure has always been an option in small, unproven, socially unimportant markets. It really shouldn't take 7 paragraphs to compare apples to oranges...

Re: Failure is an option

#10

Post by dalai » Mon, Mar 03, 2014, 9:07 AM UTC

victoro wrote: post #9

Failure has always been an option in small, unproven, socially unimportant markets. It really shouldn't take 7 paragraphs to compare apples to oranges...

I think his point was that is should also be an option in large, proven and socially important markets.