Tuesday, March 24, 2009
China's gold standard
China wants to set up a central currency for the world, cutting loose from the dollar. As described here, it seems like an excellent idea. It would remove both the burdens and the threats from our economy. We would have to borrow and lend on an equal footing, which would force us to behave more frugally in general. We'd be less vulnerable to manipulation by oil-producing countries and currency speculators, and less able to manipulate other countries.
In other words, our officials would have to pay more attention to the welfare of the American people, and less to the maintenance of empire.
From my engineerish viewpoint, it's always better to decouple an important variable, to remove it from outside access. It's good to have firewalls in a building, and it's good to have firewalls on a computer. Gives less power to arsonists and hackers, which means the arsonists and hackers have to look elsewhere.
The present crisis has all the hallmarks of an attack by some form of economic hacker. If so, decoupling wouldn't help us in the present crisis, because we apparently have to continue throwing trillions of dollars at the hacker to prevent the alternative.
Still, a central currency would make future attacks far more difficult. ¶ 2:35 PM
In other words, our officials would have to pay more attention to the welfare of the American people, and less to the maintenance of empire.
From my engineerish viewpoint, it's always better to decouple an important variable, to remove it from outside access. It's good to have firewalls in a building, and it's good to have firewalls on a computer. Gives less power to arsonists and hackers, which means the arsonists and hackers have to look elsewhere.
The present crisis has all the hallmarks of an attack by some form of economic hacker. If so, decoupling wouldn't help us in the present crisis, because we apparently have to continue throwing trillions of dollars at the hacker to prevent the alternative.
Still, a central currency would make future attacks far more difficult. ¶ 2:35 PM
