Los 4 primeros capítulos son un fantástico repaso de los distintos bienes que han actuado como dinero a lo largo de la historia y un resumen de cómo ha cambiado el consenso económico respecto a cuál es la política monetaria ideal. Los capítulos 5 – 7 son una introducción a la teoría austriaca de economía pero con una postura demasiado “one-sided” en favor de esta y contra el keynesianismo y monetarismo (que teorías acertadas o no, tienen mejores argumentos para defender su política monetaria ideal que las que se exponen en el libro). Además, en esta parte se introduce un fuerte componente ideológico libertario y el autor se va por las ramas opinando sobre temas como el arte contemporáneo o la vida de Keynes, que son claros “off-topics”.

First off, I’m grateful to Saifedean for writing this book. I found it informative and thought-provoking, and loaded with potent one-liners that capture some of Bitcoin’s most exciting characteristics, and refute some of the most common arguments against it. And, yes, I have more than a few objections to share as well. But on the whole, I consider it worthwhile reading for anyone who is interested in the history, and future, of monetary systems. Really terrible. I thought this book would give some technical information on bitcoin, but instead gave me some libertarians shitty views on whatever it seemed like he was thinking about at the moment he was writing. His take on Modern art was among the most memorably idiotic parts of this publication. What it did say about bitcoin was basic knowledge I could have found on Wikipedia, and even that was barely touched and poorly written. In a society of sound money, there are no liquidity concerns over the failure of a bank, as all banks hold all their deposits on hand, and have investments of matched maturity. In other words, there is no distinction between illiquidity and insolvency, and there is no systemic risk that could make any bank “too big to fail.” A bank that fails is the problem of its shareholders and lenders, and nobody else. Risk Management - Apply Antifragility to make Entrepreneurship the Safest 21st Century Career and Surround yourself with a community that will foster successThe only way to make maturity mismatching safe is with the presence of a lender of last resort standing ready to lend to banks in case of a bank run. This analysis may help explain why Bitcoin has resisted all attempts to change it significantly so far. The coordination problem of organizing a simultaneous shift among people with adversarial interests, many of whom are strongly vested in the notion of immutability for its own sake, is likely intractable barring any pressing reason for people to move away from current implementations. Note: Argument is that money is key technology of civilization. Presumably, because it enables social scalability. The fatal flaw of the gold standard at the heart of these two problems was that settlement in physical gold is cumbersome, expensive, and insecure, which meant it had to rely on centralizing physical gold reserves in a few locations—banks and central banks—leaving them vulnerable to being taken over by governments. main difference being that the monetary discipline of the gold standard was almost entirely lost in this world where there were no effective controls on all central banks in expanding the money supply, because no citizens could redeem their government money for gold.

As a dollarised economy, the US dollar will continue to serve as fiat currency alongside Bitcoin, but the move positions Bitcoin—the world’s leading cryptocurrency—as a transactional standard in the country. Note: Argument is that this monetary nationalism administered by central banks created more upside as well as more downside. In an asymmetric world, AKA Extemistan, that is not worth it.Libertarian or "Austrian economics" explanation of money. Discussing the history and social impact then anticipating the role of bitcoin. The book’s 10 chapters are essentially in three parts: the first three chapters outline a particular theory and history of money; the next four intermix between a history of the gold standard and post-gold standard era, politics, and a kind of cultural anthropology of the impact of ‘sound money’ and time preference on society; the final three chapters are a more mundane description of the digital money vision of ‘ Bitcoin.’ La segunda parte toca un tema especialmente controvertido como es la teoría monetaria. En este sentido, el autor tiene un enfoque 100% austriaco y aborrece al máximo las teorías keynesianas tan en boga en la actualidad. Contrary to the most egregiously erroneous and central tenet of the state theory of money, it was not the government that decreed gold as money; rather, it is only by holding gold that governments could get their money to be accepted at all. My favorite chapters were the first 4, which take us through phases of monetary evolution in history. Saifedean’s knowledge and expertise is on full display as he talks about seashells, Rai stones, glass beads, Roman gold coins (and the eventual debasement thereof), and the essential principles that underpin the trajectory and fate of each system. He clearly knows this territory well, and gives the reader a deft and lucid tour. He also does a fine job of introducing the principles of Austrian economics, as a counterpoint to the dominant Keynsian paradigm. I particularly liked the section on Roman and post-Roman coinage, which intimates that the fate of an empire can be very closely tied to how responsible or irresponsible of a monetary policy it maintains.

Note: Seems a bit much? I think the underlying point that money has a lot of downstream effects is good though Los capítulos sobre Bitcoin son básicos en cuanto a la tecnología criptográfica que lo soporta, pero creo que explican muy bien por qué sus propiedades son ideales para convertirse, en el mejor de los casos, en la base de un patrón monetario alternativo que sustituya al actual, o al menos en un activo muy atractivo para actuar como depósito de valor durante las próximas décadas.In other sections, the arguments were highly ideological. The argument about Keynes would more convincing if it was more disciplined particularly in describing specific positions. The argument that the gold standard could be characterized by price stability is made by comparing prices at the endpoints of gold standard periods. This doesn't mean there were stable prices during the periods and closer examination would, in fact, show otherwise. In ‘The Bitcoin Standard,’ economist and author Saifedean Ammous delves deep into the history of money, its evolution, and the transformative potential of Bitcoin as a game-changer for the global financial system. The book presents a detailed analysis of the fundamental principles of Bitcoin, its potential impact on economic systems, and its significance for the future of money. The Evolution of Money: A Journey Through Time The war machines that the government‐directed economies built were far more advanced than any the world had ever seen, thanks to the popularity of the most dangerous and absurd of all Keynesian fallacies The author then introduces the concept of “sound money” — money that maintains its value over time and is resistant to inflation. Ammous explains that the gold standard, which linked the value of currencies to gold, served as a reliable monetary system for many years. The stability it provided to economies across the globe, and the constraints it placed on government spending, were hallmarks of the gold standard era. The Unraveling of the Gold Standard and the Emergence of Fiat Currency

Note: Once one power did it without causing a run on the bank then they sort of all had to do it because otherwise they would be outspent and lose the war. Could appeal to nationalism to prvent bank run. Human beings’ lower time preference allows us to curb our instinctive and animalistic impulses, think of what is better for our future, and act rationally rather than impulsively. For anything to function as a good store of value, it has to beat this trap: it has to appreciate when people demand it as a store of value, but its producers have to be constrained from inflating the supply significantly enough to bring the price down.Bitcoin can be best understood as distributed software that allows for transfer of value using a currency protected from unexpected inflation without relying on trusted third parties. In other words, Bitcoin automates the functions of a modern central bank and makes them predictable and virtually immutable by programming them into code decentralized among thousands of network members, none of whom can alter the code without the consent of the rest. Have you ever thought about the world before money? How did it work? Actually, it was pretty simple: people just swapped stuff. They traded a horse for a cow and so on. It worked okay, except if you didn’t have something your neighbour needed. Once people figured out you could exchange universally valued objects for goods, everything changed. Civilization is not about more capital accumulation per se; rather, it is about what capital accumulation allows humans to achieve, the flourishing and freedom to seek higher meaning in life when their base needs are met and most pressing dangers averted.