CLibertyC

Bitcoin: A Bet Against the Stupid Horse

"George Mason economics professor Peter Boettke made his first FreedomFest appearance and presented some harrowing statistics pointing to the demise of the United States. However he made the analogy that the economy is like three horses. The Adam Smith horse drives prosperity through gains from trade. The Joseph Schumpeter horse provides constant innovation from technology. The third horse, what Boettke calls the stupid horse, is government. Both the Smith and Schumpeter horses created bitcoin and as much as the government tries to rein it in, those horses will stay ahead. The government horse is too slow and stupid." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin’s Open-Air Trading Floor

"People gather every Monday evening in New York’s Union Square to buy and sell the crypto-currency known as Bitcoin. Flashing cash and smartphones, men make trades worth thousands of dollars in a nook of the park they call Satoshi Square. The scene is like an open-air trading floor, and indeed, participants liken themselves to the men who hatched New York’s first stock exchange under a buttonwood tree in 1792. Similar gatherings have taken place in London, and an inaugural one will take place in Toronto next week. The vibe at Satoshi Square was a cross between a stock exchange, a religious revival, and buying weed in the park." Continue reading →

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The first Bitcoin based bank in Cyprus is coming!

"Welcome to the blog of LMB Holdings the parent company of both Ploutos (Bank) and the Pisti payment network. We are extremely proud to be in a position of providing a solution for the two biggest questions being asked currently here in Cyprus by depositors; 1. Is my money safe and will the government be taking my money? 2. Can I spend my money? With many Cypriots and international depositors losing more than 20% of their life savings to help prop up the failing banks, there has never been a more suitable time nor place to launch a genuine alternative to the mainstream banking systems." Continue reading →

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New trust wants to protect digital Bitcoins like physical gold: In vaults

"A U.S. regulatory filing for a Bitcoin investment trust from the Winklevoss twins said they will protect the virtual currency like gold bars—in vaults. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, famous for their early association with Facebook, are selling the trust as a way for institutional and retail investors to invest in bitcoins without dealing with the hassle of exchanges and the thorny security problems around storing bitcoins. In a 74-page document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the twins write they will use a network of secure vaults around the U.S. to store their investors' bitcoins." Continue reading →

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No More Communism! North Korea Capitulates: Farming.

"The last hold-out is no longer holding out. North Korea now allows collective farms to lease land to peasants. The peasants pay 30% of the crop to the collective. We can be sure of this: output will rise. This is what Deng did in 1978. He freed up agriculture. The boom began within a year. The peasants will buy into this if they believe they will really get to keep 70%. They are suspicious. But if the collectives abide by the rules, Communism is finished. The experiment has failed. Celebrate. Light up a Cuban cigar. (No. Sorry. That’s illegal in the land of the free and the home of the NSA.) May the lights come back on in the North." Continue reading →

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“You’re Fired. Want to Work Part-Time?”

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce summarizes what the situation is. 'Small businesses expect the requirement to negatively impact their employees. Twenty-seven percent say they will cut hours to reduce full time employees, 24 percent will reduce hiring, and 23 percent plan to replace full time employees with part-time workers to avoid triggering the mandate.' Thanks, Nancy. Thanks Barack. You have just created the new normal for low-paid workers: lower pay! This is why the government decided to delay implementation of small business rules until 2015. You see, there are Congressional elections in November of 2014." Continue reading →

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Detroit’s City Pensioners Are Wiped Out.

"This is the thing about impossible obligations. They get abandoned. This confirms economist Herbert Stein’s law: 'When things can’t go on, they have a tendency to stop.' A year ago, the experts denied that anything was wrong. Yes, there were 'problems,' but nothing that could not be fixed. 'Bankruptcy? Are you serious? Of course not. There is no possibility of that. Such talk is inflammatory. Perish the thought.' That’s what politicians always say . . . right up to the end. The pensioners will have to go back to work. They will be covered by Medicare only. They believed the politicians. They invested their working years in terms of promises made by politicians." Continue reading →

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Bernanke: I’m Clueless About Gold

"Chmn. Bernanke: When we buy securities from a private citizen, we create a deposit in their bank, and it shows up as reserves. So if you look up our balance sheet, our balance sheet balances. We have Treasury securities on the asset side. On the liability side we have either cash or reserves at banks, and on the margin that’s what has been building up as excess reserves at banks. Rep. Rothfus: You create the reserves? Chmn. Bernanke: Yes. Rep. Rothfus: Is that printing money? Chmn. Bernanke: Not literally." Continue reading →

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Detroit Suffers the Biggest Municipal Bankruptcy Ever — Are Your Muni Bonds Safe?

"The move is clearly a tragedy for Detroit residents, workers and retirees. Many will see their health-care and pension benefits slashed. But, ultimately, Detroit felt it had no choice to get out from under its crushing burden. But what about the broader implications? What does this mean for the $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market? Well, many market pundits will claim Detroit is an isolated case. Many bond-fund managers will try to downplay the significance of this. Do not fall for it. First, Detroit is far from alone. While it is certainly the largest municipality to go broke, the city is just the latest in a long line of troubled municipal borrowers to tumble into bankruptcy." Continue reading →

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101 Million Americans Received Food Aid Last Year

"Nearly one-third of Americans received government-funded food aid in 2012, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). There are roughly a dozen federal food assistance programs operating today. The USDA reports that 59 percent of households that participated in one of the four largest food assistance programs—food stamps, school breakfasts, school lunches, and WIC—end up receiving benefits from 'two or more programs.' This indicates significant duplication, 'providing participants total benefits in excess of 100 percent of daily nutritional needs.'" Continue reading →

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