First of all if anyone can see from my recent posts in legal and economy my view since the growth has been optimistic, and they still are. The only problem is the the average working joe doesn't have a clue about bitcoin, doesn't have a time with a wife and family to look into it not to mention the people (at least where i'm from, U.S south) with real equity simply dont' need the money.
I don't agree with this sentiment. It's not too hard for the average working Joe (particularly in the US) to open an account with Coinbase, buy some Bitcoin or Litecoin and let it ride, unless of course they live in Hawaii or Wyoming. I also don't think that people "don't need the money". Some people might not chase money as much as others, but everyone needs more money, just about everyone.
The problem is a lack of basic financial and technology education to give that average Joe the propensity to be curious about something as unique as Bitcoin and to understand why people believe it will be so revolutionary. The average Joe doesn't understand the underlying principles of investments or finance or how technology can and should evolve beyond what we know today. These same average Joe's probably didn't ever believe they'd need a computer in their home, would have use for email, or would ever use the internet for their daily tasks (not to mention entertainment).
As for everyone needing money, this is almost guaranteed by the wide availability of credit and the lack of personal finance education in the primary education system. There's no stage in a child's early education where EVERY CHILD learns (1) to survive in this world you need to make money, and (2) you should seek multiple forms of income to protect yourself from the risk of having any one source of income taken away.
Your comments about your father are the same as I've had with mine. Any response is "illegal activity" or "bubble". When the truth is the US Dollar is the leader in currency used for illegal activity and has been in a bubble for a long time (it's increase in spending power, the consequence of a "bubble", has been tempered by the production of more money supply). Further, if this were a bubble we'd see really prolonged selling following a drop in price, not a quick rebound that nearly gets us back to or past the previous high mark.
Also let's be just realistic for a moment and agree most people here are the overzealous portion of bitcoin users who WANT to see it grow. It is a bitcoin forum. I'm wondering what post-doc level economists are saying about bitcoin.
I'd love to hear the opinions of career economists. The challenge remains that if professionals talk seriously about Bitcoin they risk losing credibility among their peers that can't see the value in it, that think it's a techy fad like online shopping once was.