Dr. Saifedean Ammous, author of “The Bitcoin Standard” and “The Fiat Standard,” joined Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, clinical psychologist, best-selling author, and host of The JBP Podcast, to discuss money, economics, incentives, decentralization, Bitcoin, and fiat currency.
“Learned a lot,” Peterson tweeted, after the conversation with Ammous. “Bought some more bitcoin. Inflation be damned.”
Ammous walked through many of the nuances of Bitcoin, including its technology and economic dynamics, shedding light on plenty of reasons why the monetary system is unique. The author of The Fiat Standard, a follow-up to his famous work The Bitcoin Standard, delved into details in a beginner-friendly fashion, hashing out complex topics into more straightforward concepts.
Peterson asked thoughtful questions, which were explored in detail throughout the conversation. Many of his doubts resonate with beginners, who naturally try to puzzle through the distinctiveness of Bitcoin and why exactly it is the solution for many problems society currently faces.
“There are no insiders on Bitcoin,” Ammous said while explaining how the monetary network manages to be a genuinely decentralized one, differently than other projects. “Bitcoin only has users…no admins. There is nobody with a master key.”
The aspect that any user is seen and treated equally by the Bitcoin network is powerful and revolutionary. All of the systems currently in place, based on fiat currencies, allow for discrimination and sanctions to be enforced arbitrarily. The unique way Bitcoin came about, which Ammous calls “the immaculate conception,” allowed it to grow organically and become the antifragile, distributed monetary network that it is today.
“At the end of the day, what makes me pay attention to Bitcoin is that it is neutral money that nobody can control,” Ammous said when comparing Bitcoin to the many other cryptocurrency projects.
In addition to discussing the fundamental aspects of Bitcoin, Ammous and Peterson also delved into the characteristics of the current monetary system based on debt and fiat currencies. Ammous reflected on the mainstream economic views of today, including that of central banks and governments, as opposed to Bitcoin’s structuring.
“From the mainstream perspective…money is the creation of the state and the only question is what is the state’s role in the management of money,” Ammous said. “But from the Austrian perspective, money is a product of the market and not the invention of the state. The state’s meddling in money…is irrational and cannot succeed for the same reasons central planning does not succeed and is also the root cause of the majority of economic problems that all economists are concerned with.”
Watch the entire conversation between Dr. Saifedean Ammous and Dr. Jordan B. Peterson on Youtube.