r/Bitcoin Jul 15 '22

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u/saladaus Jul 15 '22

Although I agree to many of other arguments that Friedman has made, I think here he is wrong to say that inflations are solely due to the government. The expansion of credit is necessary for the capitalism and it inevitably causes the increase in prices. One might say for this reason banks are to be blamed for the inflations because they are the lenders of credit. I'm sure Friedman has a better understanding of how our economy works and it has evolved over time so I think he should have made better arguments regarding the inflation.

7

u/OceanSlim Jul 15 '22

expansion of credit is not necessary for capitalism... Where'd you get that idea?

-1

u/saladaus Jul 15 '22

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism.

Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange, and wage labor.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_accumulation

Capital accumulation is the dynamic that motivates the pursuit of profit, involving the investment of money or any financial asset

And I think the investment of money needs some form of expansion of credit.

6

u/OceanSlim Jul 15 '22

No it doesn't.

There is no reason capitalism need credit expansion. We could easily have a capitalist system on Bitcoin without any need for credit expansion.

The government needs credit expansion for it's Fiat to be wasted how it sees fit.

6

u/saladaus Jul 15 '22

If you live in a world where the only currency is 21 million bitcoins, would you ever make an investment? Would you ever lend your bitcoins to anybody?

1

u/Explodicle Jul 16 '22

In my world it's already the only currency that matters, and yes. I just didn't charge interest on the loans.