In 2018, he became an Associate Professor at the Lebanese American University. But of course, you have to remember that this is dangerous, because debt is dangerous. At maturity-weighted yields on its portfolio of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, thats somewhere north of $100 billion a year. Ammous specifically cited how fiat inflation is used primarily for the needs of the government, saying that The cost of fiat is currently 3.5% of all global wealth, and is Even if all the Feds balance-sheet increase were at the disposal of the government which its not it wouldnt explain the many recipients that Saif believes are on the fiat-government payroll. Saifedean Ammous: I think, not to ruin the book, well, I will ruin the book for people, but basically Bitcoin fixes all of this. Archived. Hunter Hastings is a member of the Mises Institute, Business Consultant, and co-chair of the Rescue California Educational Foundation. Historically, gold ended up being money because it is the hardest money, because it is the hardest metal, because its very hard to increase the quantity of gold that is available on the market. Benji Block: Amazing, the book is The Fiat Standard. His creation, The Bitcoin Standard, is published in 21 different languages with more than 800 Amazon reviews and is widely considered an essential book for understanding bitcoin economics. With money, with a hard money that can hold onto value, you have a reliable way of providing for yourself tomorrow, so you can put your money, you can put your wealth, you can put the value that you produce in the hard money. Then on the flip side, you know, the other side of it is that as the government is constantly devaluing the currency in order to finance its spending, thats leading to a rise of the price of the valuable kinds of food, the scarce foods that are difficult to produce. A couple of interesting historical tidbits, this isnt a history book, but I begin the book with a couple of interesting historical stories about how this financial system came about. Then, he moved to the UK to attend The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Ammous said that even though altcoins have emerged that may have possessed superior technology I think you present some great thoughts there, but you talk about even maybe shorting the Fiat System. Most countries dont maximize their seigniorage revenue, precisely because of the political backlash that accompany such extractive inflation regimes. Whereas the dollar is harder because nobody in the local economy can make more of it and the foreign central banks that make it are a lot more restrained in its production. Ask yourself, are you delaying your long-term goals because you are busy with day to day activities rather than investing in things that matter to you in the long run? Although bitcoin can be used to purchase things in transactions, it really doesnt matter if that happens or not. We went from, in the late 19th century, we had a form of money that was gold whose supplied globally increased by around 2% per year. Now his online academy gives students access to the man himself, an opportunity to learn economics as it should be taught: at market prices, online, with no wasted time or material. Because no matter how much money you have, if you have money its constantly losing value so you cant just have money. Basically, we have like 100 years now to look back on and we can analyze The Fiat Standard. Best is to Join Dr Saifedean Ammous online Press Esc to cancel. They used to eat more meat back in the 19th century, and meat is the most nutritious thing that you could eat. As Scott Sumner writes, and many other monetary economists have pointed out, The Fed controls the nominal quantity of money in the US economy. This is the term thats more commonly known today in third-world countries and countries that have inflation problems than it is in the US or in Europe. Saifedean Ammous makes Bitcoin easy to understand for everyone without getting lost in technical details. Only about a third of them were sold. But if everybody switches from eating real food to eating inferior foods, then prices arent going up all that much. A similar mechanism is the store-of-value argument the monetization of assets like Treasuries, stocks, and real estate when we live under a bad monetary regime. I would rate a tiny fraction of the books I have read about any one of these topics as excellent. They e Receive and read book chapters as they are written; Access video and audio online courses in Austrian economics; Subscribe to podcasts (which he runs like a seminar); Find a complete central bank replacement pack. Thats what allows us to save for the future. If you go to Lebanon or Turkey or Brazil today, everybody knows the difference between easy money and hard money. Then, the British government had a problem because how were they going to finance the war when people dont want to buy the bonds. Benji Block: Wow, thats a great explanation. No matter how much money you have, you will expect that money to lose value over time and the only way that you can hedge against that, the only way that you can protect yourself against that is to leverage, get into debt and therefore, be on the edge. And they kept on kicking the can down the road and its survived for a century. Grandma was right throughout all of human history, but it doesnt work in this kind of monetary system because in this monetary system, if you buy a house from your savings, the time it takes you to save money as you are saving that money, that money is losing value because other people are being able to mine new money and so theyre devaluing your existing savings. New money is always being created every time a new loan comes into existence, and it is also money is being destroyed when loans are being paid off. Those efforts have evolved into the financial system we know today, predating the internet by decades and only slowly realizing the benefits of digital technology. It is an ever-growing bubble of debt that just keeps growing and growing and growing and the currency continues to devalue and decline in value over time, thats just how the system works. It is featured in his YouTube channel, which only started in 2021. The reason that this Fiat System didnt collapse and get replaced by gold, is that you just cant send gold around the world. This unfolding timeline is an excellent example of the entrepreneurial method at work. Laguna Beach CA 92651 I want to close with just this question. Remember, Keynesian economics is just one big giant obsession with getting GDP up and exports is positive on WebCEO & Co-Founder of Fedimint, Obi Nwosu, joins me for an in-depth conversation on how his protocol "Fedi" is helping Bitcoin fight against regulatory capture by creating a new pro Saifedean Ammous. In the absence of hard money, Treasuries have become the second-best safe asset. Join as member+ and also attend Hosted by Marty Bent. In fact he believes Ethereum competes more with Amazon Web Services than Bitcoin. Benji Block: If this is the water that were swimming in, how do we maybe change our approach? You know, gold doesnt keep up with inflation. "I think bitcoin (blorkchang) is amazing and I'm really smart so I must be right", ironically, that type of thinking is the antithesis of what bitcoin stands for. Ammous said that even though altcoins have emerged that may have possessed superior technology than Bitcoin, they have all failed to dethrone the worlds largest cryptocurrency and drive the price lower. He and his family relocated to Lebanon when he was an adolescent. Why waste money on something you can learn about openly on the internet? Economically and historically speaking and ironically, MMT-speaking hes not entirely wrong: Every episode of hyperinflation has seen fiscal powers subdue whatever level of independence the monetary powers may have once had or resistance they might have put up. You should spend only the money that you have, but it turns out grandma was wrong. A university-level textbook explaining the most important concepts in economics in the Austrian school tradition, coming in late 2022. As seen in the remittance that the Fed sends to the Treasury every year ($54.9 billion in 2019, $88.5 billion in 2020, $107.4 billion in 2021), the Feds operations do directly cover some government expenditures in the range of around 1 percent of outlays: Until 2019, the US public sector spent some 39 percent of GDP putting it in the lower half of OECD countries. to join us. But how large is that effect? In his new book The Fiat Standard, its clear that Saifedean Ammous thinks all bad things come from the government. Podcast Notes isnot associated or affiliated with the source podcast (unless otherwise stated). In fact, if you look at the 19th century, the average American used to eat something like two or three times as much meat as they do right now. Governments do not just print currencies and hand them out to societies that accept them as good money.. We can see the toll its taken as we use debt basically as money. Ammous touches on the far-reaching implications of various monetary systems and singles out the paradoxes of Keynesianism for an intense critique. It put together the technical, economic, motivational and related issues around Bitcoin better than anything I've seen. How Much Saifedean Ammous Worth? As a result, they develop the mind-set of spending on useful things, Economical and personal decision making shifts towards building for the future and people cooperating with one another, Bitcoin lowers peoples time preference as they start to appreciate the opportunity cost of giving away something that is scarce, even if it is volatile, People share stories of quitting addictive behaviors like smoking or drinking and putting the money into Bitcoin instead , A hangover is Satoshis way of reminding you that you couldve been buying Bitcoin instead with the money that you spent on alcohol.. Press J to jump to the feed. Saifedean Ammous: Exactly, the GDP number go up. Saifedean Ammous is the author of The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking, the best-selling groundbreaking study of the economics of bitcoin. Where exactly is this endless limitless pool of funds with which fiat provides government? It is the monetization of a hard asset that does not have anybodys liability in order to make it it does not need anybodys liability in order to make its value constant, in order to hold its value. Webby Saifedean Ammous. Im going to continue to go down this black hole of information and try to figure out economics. Was there one or two issues that really stood out to you that go, Man, I really want to do more research on this because it doesnt make sense?. Since the value of the local fiat money will most definitely decrease with time, people have no solid future to rely on by saving their money. Parenting challenge: Left to their own devices, kids will eat Twinkies and watch TV all day. It really only started to make sense for me towards the end of my Ph.D. when I started coming across the work of what is known as the Austrian School of Economics, which is different really from the mainstream views on economics, but I find it a far more powerful tool and mechanism for understanding the world. Close. I'm considering going back to University for a year to do a masters/thesis in cryptocurrency and the role it has to play in our future, or studying the online literature that's available now, Dumped half of my net worth into it too. With Bitcoin, you can be your own bank. I mean, I wrote The Bitcoin Standard without considering, without having thought about writing The Fiat Standard so it was just writing a book on Bitcoin. For those that want to stay connected to you, what are good places maybe online to follow your work and how could people reach out? Genuinely think Blockchain is going to change the world. A Critique of Saifedean Ammous The Bitcoin Standard. Thats just taking away from people the ability to plan for the future. Tax ID# 52-1263436, Saifedean Ammous on Knowledge Entrepreneurship, Economic Calculation In The Socialist Commonwealth, An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, 2 Volumes, Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure, A History of Money and Banking in the United States Before the Twentieth Century, Man, Economy, and State, with Power and Market, The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions, Bourbon for Breakfast: Living Outside the Statist Quo, Busting Myths about the State and the Libertarian Alternative, Chaos Theory: Two Essays On Market Anarchy, Cronyism: Liberty versus Power in Early America, 16071849, Free Private Cities: Making Governments Compete For You, From Aristocracy to Monarchy to Democracy, It's a Jetsons World: Private Miracles and Public Crimes, Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty, Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View, The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production, No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, Organized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About Government, Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy, The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude, A Short History of Man: Progress and Decline, Vices Are Not Crimes: A Vindication of Moral Liberty, Reclamation of Liberties: Revisiting the War on Drugs, Inflation: Causes, Consequences, and Cure, Taxes Are What We Pay for an Impoverished Society, Why Austrian Economics Matters (Chicago 2011), The Truth About American History: An Austro-Jeffersonian Perspective, The Rosetta Stone to the US Code: A New History of Taxation, The Economic History of the United States, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, The American Economy and the End of Laissez-Faire: 1870 to World War II, Crisis and Liberty: The Expansion of Government Power in American History, Radical Austrianism, Radical Libertarianism, The History of Political Philosophy: From Plato to Rothbard, Microeconomics From an Austrian Viewpoint, The History of Economic Thought: From Marx to Hayek, The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises, The Austrian School of Economics: An Introduction, Introduction to Economics: A Private Seminar with Murray N. Rothbard, Introduction to Austrian Economic Analysis, Fundamentals of Economic Analysis: A Causal-Realist Approach, Austrian Economics: An Introductory Course, Austrian School of Economics: Revisionist History and Contemporary Theory, After the Revolution: Economics of De-Socialization, The Federal Reserve: History, Theory and Practice, The Twentieth Century: An Austrian Critique, The Truth About War: A Revisionist Approach, The Economic Recovery: Washington's Big Lie, The 25th Anniversary Celebration in New York, How to Think about the Economy: Mises Seminar in Tampa, The Ron Paul Revolution: A Ten-Year Retrospective, Against PC: The Fight for Free Expression. When students engage and say thank you, its a signal of value. WebPrime Meridian Capital executive team members Don Davis (CEO) and Sean Bill (CIO) discuss the success of the firm's multiple credits funds amid difficult market conditions. If we wish to know more about his career and work, we can go through his site, https://saifedean.com/. Because it is less uncertain, you start thinking about next year. Then, he returned to Lebanon to work as a lecturer in economics for the Lebanese American University. Saifedean and Cedric sit down to discuss And like, and, [00:05:40] and really think about it not so wouldnt you rather have the Hashemites in Lybia? But the Low time preference willingness to save/sacrifice in the short terms for benefit in the longer term is an essential part of the entrepreneurial method. Then hard money is the dollar or the Euro, which the local central bank cannot print. Saifedean Ammous Wikipedia. The best compliment I can give this book is that I read it and I decided to buy $425m of bitcoin. In Saifedeans case, the transformative event was Bitcoin, the study of which opened up a deeper understanding of hard money and low time preference. And you have a pretty good chance of having it there for you next year. This just comes across as the decisions Ive taken from above and then these academics are trying hard to rationalize and explain why these decisions are correct and it doesnt quite cut it. He also holds an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Engineering from the American University of Beirut. WebShout out to Matt Homewood for continuing to fight food waste - bins full of good food is absolutely insane. Saifedean Ammous: Yeah, thats what a lot of people tell me that, once you see Fiat somewhere, you cant just see it you cant unsee it. don't trust anyone, verify everything for yourself. He is also author ofThe Fiat Standardand an upcoming book on the principles of economics. Saifedean Ammous Become a member of academy.saifedean.com to take the online course The Fiat Standard for $15/month or $100/year. At saifedean.com, customers have been able to: Saifedean told us he is just getting started, and there are more knowledge innovations in the pipeline. There is liberation in understanding that you are your own worst enemy and your own worst ally How so? Trump's Economy: Boom Times or Dangerous Bubble? Lets talk about maybe how this system was born and what gave it some level of sticking power, because now its been around for a hundred years. WebDr. A fairly basic website (i.e., not requiring any technological expertise or gear that is not available to everyone) is the platform for the new level of knowledge entrepreneurship. Show this thread. In 2011, he was hired as a visiting scholar at the Columbia University Center on Capitalism and Society for around eight months. Specifically, everything wrong in American life Jimmy Hodlr Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Saifedean Ammous is a bestselling author, professor and one of the most well-respected economists in the world. Or, if you default your loan, you cant pay your bank back. WebRead Episode 2: A Safe Haven - Insane Risk, The Chicago Plan and Safer Money and Payments by with a free trial. A really really good book. When you pay the money back to the bank, that money has gone out of circulation, and it goes out and so the money supply declines. For the US, thats whatever the $2.2 trillion or so of dollars circulating is financing giving the Fed an interest-free financing of about a quarter of its soon-to-be $9 trillion asset portfolio. If it wants to increase the money supply, theres nothing the public can do about it. Even still, the US government manages to raise tax revenue to the tune of $4 trillion a year, almost the full extent of the Feds balance sheet increase from August 2019 until February 2022. Saifedean Ammouss Wikipedia page has not been featured on any social media platforms despite his popularity in todays world. Dr. Ammous holds a PhD in Sustainable Development from Columbia University, where his doctoral thesis studied the economics of biofuels and alternative energy sources.