Carl Menger: The Nature and Origin of Money

In the early stages of trade, when economizing individuals are only slowly awakening to knowledge of the economic gains that can be derived from exploitation of existing exchange opportunities, their attention is, in keeping with the simplicity of all cultural beginnings, directed only to the most obvious of these opportunities. In considering the goods he … Read more

Diamonds and the Treasury Debt Ceiling: Why Nothing Has ‘Intrinsic Value’ in Economics

The U.S. Treasury Department has just issued an urgent letter requesting a lift on the debt ceiling, warning Congress of imminent financial collision in September as federal cash is running out. Though this scenario has played out many times before, it takes on special significance now in light of president Trump’s recent comments about bitcoin, … Read more

Our Value of Money Is Subjective But That Doesn’t Make It Meaningless

In my last op-ed, I discussed how the value we place on items and goods is subjective based on Carl Menger’s Subjective Theory of Value and how these concepts apply to people’s perception of value with things like fiat, gold, and bitcoin. The post outlined the idea that money cannot serve as a store of … Read more

Putting an End to the Bitcoin Store of Value Fallacy

Over the last few years, many have claimed that bitcoin core (BTC) has turned into, or will soon become, a store of value (SoV). Proponents of the BTC-based SoV theory seem to think that money can somehow store value and if it’s held long enough, the price will be higher or predictably useful when spent … Read more