I'll be sure to add this for clarification next time:
For a somewhat less whimsical thought-experiment, we could use gold. Assume approximately 4.2 billion troy ounces total available for ownership and you have 10 t ozs ($17,000 @ $1,700/oz):
10 / 4,200,000,000 = 0.000000002
700,000,000,000,000 * 0.000000002 = $1,400,000
Or silver, assuming about 1 billion troy ounces available for investor possession and holding about the same current value as the gold example, so 500 t ozs ($17,000 @ $34/oz):
500 / 1,000,000,000 = 0.0000005
700,000,000,000,000 * 0.0000005 = $350,000,000
So you say there's twice as much wealth floating around in derivatives? Fair enough, divide the results by half. That's still more than most people earn in their entire lifetimes.
What was that? The people with humor-deficiencies are screaming that there won't be 100% backing? Alright, let's go with a mere 5% instead. Don't get all uppity about the dollar-denominated values: that squiggly line means 'approximately', as in 'not exact'. Also, certain assets will gain in dollar-denominated value faster than the monetary base is increased, so the extra zeros in derivatives will start to get knocked off (e.g. gold up 10x while derivatives expand by 2x, all in USD).
Gold (10oz @ ~$1,700) @ 5%: $70,000
Silver (500oz @ ~$33) @ 5%: $17,500,000
Bitcoin (50 @ ~$3) @ 5%: ~$83,000,000
I wonder which stores of wealth will constitute the other 85%? Probably government bonds, since everyone knows those are rock solid...
Let this be a reminder that math is fun.
Yes, especially from planets that are about to be blown up.
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I'll visit!
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