Why the Rise of the CBDC Is Bad for Your Privacy

Like, hate, or fear them, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are on their way. There will be no stopping them. From Sweden to Thailand and China to Canada, governments the world over are experimenting with CBDCs. While most are being undertaken as pilots at this stage, China’s is all but ready for primetime. Social Credit … Read more

Brian Tockey: Bitcoin, Regression Theorem, and Defining Money

It’s relatively common to see the regression theorem being mentioned in economic discussion, especially when it comes to whether or not something is money. This is surprising because the regression theorem has absolutely nothing to do with money or the definition of money. Regression theorem only involves prices and is really more a direct restatement … Read more

J. A. McDonald: The Longest Running Case of Mass Hysteria

It is a mass delusion on an epic scale, beyond that of any known mental illness or fallacious belief. It is neither genetic nor viral nor bacterial, yet it has spread to each corner of the world and overtaken it. Statism, the belief in a forceful and coercive government, is an affliction that almost all … Read more

Christophe Cieters: Monopoly Money

As money developed and people opted to place it in secured storage, banks started issuing banknotes which represented a client’s deposit at the bank and the promise to redeem each note for the amount of gold it represented at a 100% reserve rate. Market exchange rates of the coins were defined by their metal content. … Read more

John Perry Barlow: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather. We have no elected government, nor … Read more

Bolstering Separation of Money and State Following the 244th Independence Day

With the fourth of July approaching, many Americans will have to contemplate whether or not the holiday is an empty affair. After the last thirteen weeks of Covid-19 lockdowns, business shutdowns, and police brutality, the lack of liberty and freedoms in the U.S. has never been more apparent. With ideas like bitcoin and concepts that … Read more

Timothy C. May: Libertaria in Cyberspace

Here are a few points about why “cyberspace,” or a computer-mediated network, is more hospitable than physical locations for the kind of “crypto-anarchy” libertarian system I’ve been describing. Several folks have commented recently about ocean-going libertarian havens, supertankers used as data havens, and so forth. In the 1970s, especially, there were several unsuccessful attempts to … Read more

Benjamin R. Tucker: Why I Am An Anarchist

Why am I an Anarchist? That is the question which the editor of the Twentieth Century has requested me to answer for his readers. I comply; but, to be frank, I find it a difficult task. If the editor or one of his contributors had only suggested a reason why I should be anything other … Read more

Ayn Rand: Francisco d’Anconia’s Speech on Money

“So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who … Read more

Carl Watner: The Tragedy of Political Government

“What is tragic about political government?” you might ask. Let us return to that question once we have examined the nature of political government and the State. In order to distinguish between government and other institutions in society we must look at the ways human behavior can be organized and human needs and desires satisfied. … Read more