CDR: Re: Amex supports CARNIVORE enabled Anonymity System

[R. A. Hettinga]

At 5:46 PM -0700 on 9/18/00, Ray Dillinger wrote:


> In order for a currency to stand, it really has to be backed up by
> a commodity.

Sure you have to "ground out" into something tangible, or at least a fiat
currency ;-), sooner or later.

Someday, of course, you won't need the fiat bit, but pure commodities
aren't the end-state. You probably need a mix of stuff, including financial
proxies like debt and equity indices, and so on. But the core problem is
measuring inflation. Fortunately, :-), Paul Harrison and I have this giant
rant in the can about non-state bearer synthetic numeraires, using things
like digital bearer warehouse receipts for the hard stuff, a proxy for the
CPI...

Cheers,
RAH
-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'