Topic: Bitcoin will be on the Peter Schiff Show 2011-06-20 at 10AM EDT - page 2. (Read 7371 times)

He was talking about an Austrian economist stating that gold had intrinsic value by reason of it's use value.  Austrians don't normally talk in those terms, because use value doesn't equate to an intrinsic value.  Value is always subjective, and an 'intrinsic' value would necessarily have to exist, if it did exist, by reason of a commodities natural characteristics.  Gold's use value is not very closely related to it's elemental properties, but it's monetary value is related to it's elemental properties.  If gold has an intrisic value, it's directly related to it's quality as an ideal money, not it's industrial or commercial uses. 

Well I'm sure he's trying to make sense of it too. He needs an education just like everyone else. Does he have the wisdom to feed his intellect?

I almost fell out of my chair when Peter said gold had intrinsic value because you could craft jewelry from gold or use it in electronics. While being true, you can do the same with seashells and silicon, those properties have nothing to do with why gold is a good medium of exchange.. I thought Peter was smarter than that.

Yes.

I also think people hear about BTC and think that since it's a computer program there will be an infinite number of them; taking no time to understand the complexity of the situation. They are cool however, with the fact that the bank at any given time does not have all the deposits that their member's web screen's tell them they do should they all walk hand in hand down to the bank together. A mystery to be sure.

It's a shame that very few people seem to know what "backing" means and what "intrinsic" value is.

And Peter Schiff calls himself an austrian? Intrinsic value Peter? Really?

As long as Western Union and MoneyGram charge those outrageous fees, Bitcoins have intrinsic value.

Schiff is a goldbug, and he would prefer that you were too...  If technology were to appear which, to the alchemists' dream, allowed lead to be turned into Gold, then what intrinsic value would gold have?  And just why does gold have intrinsic value?  You can't eat it.  It doesn't sustain life.  It has value because people say it has value.  People want it.  Same with bitcoins.

Then we are of the same understanding. I think the net is now synonymous with our existence. If it doesn't exist it won't be becuase of oil. It will be because of nuclear holocaust. I took Boris and others very seriously for awhile and then it occured to me; that kind of change just doesn't happen overnight. And if it did materialize nothing I do now will really matter anyway so live as we do now and we will just live with less "stuff" in future.

Those with BTC can pay their ISP!!

I understand where you are coming from. My theory is that they feel threatened by Bitcoin (whether they know it consciously or not.) Consequently, they lash out at it.

It is very similar to the internet in the early 90's and TV. Local TV stations would regularly have news segments hyping up "pedophiles on the internet". This negativity was simply because they knew that the internet would take away their viewership.

deleted.

That's not actually Peter Schiff's blog. That is a blog run by another individual that simply tracks Peter's media appearances, articles and videos.

Here's the "nutter" in his true glory, being 100% right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw

http://peterschiffblog.blogspot.com/

Looks like the guy is a nutter. Sigh.

Did you mean Dmitry Orlov and he's semi-classic "Closing the Collapse Gap"?

Maybe because they are heavily vested in precious metals and are experiencing a mild cognitive dissonance ?

Off-topic: liquid zeolite 

keep in mind that peter's show is about protecting purchasing power and prudent income-generating investing.

bitcoin qualifies for neither. if you specifically asked schiff what he though about competing currencies and explained the bitcoin concept I'm pretty sure he would voice support for it.
he just wouldn't invest his networth in it, and neither should anyone else.

I've been a silver bug  for decades.  Have never sold an ounce of what I have, even after discovering Bitcoin last year.  I'm an econo-geek, and versed enough in the crypto to understand how the system could work, even though I can't dive into the code and determine for myself it it actually does what others may say that it does.

Mostly I consider them complementary.  If the future looks anything like Schiff or Olov think that it could, then a return to in person barter trade is likely, and thus Bitcoin will prove to be a useless endeavor.  However, I don't consider that remotely likely, as even in the days of sail trade prior to the wireless telegraph; communications were required to facilitate trans-Atlantic trade, and that was largely limited in credit trust due to the physical nature of gold money.  Therefore, the Internet will not die easily, and there will be groups in every city with deep vested interests in maintaining some kind of Internet link long after the cars stop moving due to lack of fuel.  So even a 100+  year reversal of fortunes in transit technology would benefit from the existance of Bitcoin, a Mad Max scenerio notwithstanding.

I think that there are more metal bugs, and vastly more Austrians, engaged in Bitcoin than many would otherwise be inclined to believe.

Of course, Peter is a hyper-hypocritical goldbug. 

I listened to that interview and I got the impression that Kiyosaki was somewhat of a prick. It may be true that Kiyosaki is doing things that Peter isn't familiar with, but Peter asked the right questions and Kiyosaki was playing dodge ball.

Peter's concerns about bitcoin aren't unreasonable. He is reasonably skeptical about the future value of the "concept." A lot of that may have to do with the fact that he is simply ignorant of the mathematical principles that make bitcoin possible, but ultimately what matters is whether people in the future will give it any value. The fact that people like Peter remain skeptical about bitcoin I think will be a positive force moving forward. It will be these skeptics that ultimately provide a stable value base for the currency.