Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to A little perspective

Better.
TB — (archived)

The way value is moved around may change, but the basic principles of economics are still basic principles.

Micro-lending is nothing exotic economically, just a change of scale, and probably a much-needed one. Such things have been done informally, particularly in other cultures, for centuries.

"Money" is an abstract concept that represents human work and addition of value, not to be confused with "cash." Whether it's gold coins, credits, "reputation points," computer tallies, or giant stone wheels, it's some broadly-accepted (a key point!) entity that says "this represents value and services I've added to the world by my skills and efforts."

Moving dollars or quatloos around in virtual space instead of pockets changes nothing. I do use credit cards, you know. It does make it easier for someone to manipulate the value, I suppose. The reason inflation exists is because the government can make money out of nothing.

I don't think "reputation points" really change anything either. At some point they have to be convertable to a medium of exchange, or else Joe Genius has to take his points to the grocery store. If they're accepted for goods and services, then they're just another form of money. Then you have to ask, "who generates these points? Is there a limit on the supply?" Pretty soon Joe Genius might need twelve billion reputation points to buy a loaf of bread.

In fact, reputation already has a huge influence on the market. A company's reputation for a good product and customer service is immensely valuable, and closely guarded if the company has sense.

I will admit it's possible I'm not understanding the concept properly. In situations like this, references would be very useful.

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