Re: [Dgcchat] Totalitarian Force Monopoly and Geodesic Capital (was Re: [Clips] The Economics of the Rise of Ahmadinejad)
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Delivered-To: rah@shipwright.com
Delivered-To: clips@philodox.com
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:12:44 -0500
To: "Philodox Clips List"
The battle is one between fiat currency vs FC
I don't think so.
I think that the contents of say, a digital bearer certificate are,
orthogonal to the method of execution, clearing, and settlement. They're,
heh, immaterial. (Okay, bad financial operations joke, that.)
As an underwriter, I don't care whether I'm issuing certificates backed by
anything: dollars, pounds, quatloos, a share of stock, a debenture (or just
the principal, or just one interest coupon thereof), gold, opium, a car on
a transporter in the middle of a the pacific, a toaster in a container on a
container ship in the middle of same, a transporter or a container *ship*
in the middle of same, a bushel of grain in an elevator, beef on the hoof
in a stockyard... or any derivative thereof. Or a wager on the price of
anything. Or a wager on an event, like, say me betting that I'll die next
year for a million bucks (speaking of Mr. Heinlein...). Or the future
performance of services. Or the current, real-time, performance of
services, surgery, theater, or, um, other things.
Well, you get the idea.
In theory, if someone wants to trade assets in digital bearer form, and I
can make money at it, then I'll underwrite certificates representing those
assets. If the transaction cost is low enough compared to book-entry
settlement, we might be able to issue digital bearer certificates
representing clear title to any asset in creation, trade them for each
other, at the protocol level, exclusive of national origin. Or
extra-national origin. Or whatever.
That, I claim, will lead to the abolition of transfer-pricing, the collapse
of hierarchical into geodesic society, abolition of force-monopoly, the
reduction of nation-states to the status of sports franchises (and other
religious affiliations), dogs and cats living together, world peace,
perfect forward security (but not p=np), perfect pseudonymity representing
functional anonymity, Measurable Improvement In The General Welfare And The
Progress Of Humanity In General. (My definition: more stuff, cheaper, today
more than yesterday, tomorrow more than today, forever and forever, amen.
What's yours?).
But that's just me claiming stuff. I want to actually see this stuff
deployed to see whether it *works*, first. "Works", for me, means that an
underwriter can make a profit, which means that buyers and sellers profit,
too, to the extent that it costs them less to buy and sell those assets my
way than any other way.
Otherwise, we're just waving our hands, here, even if we're doing it more
enthusiastically than usual.
Cheers,
RAH
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R. A. Hettinga
participants (1)
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R.A. Hettinga