Bitcoin Fixes This #104: Macroeconomics with @parkeralewis and @TuurDemeester After a year-long sabbatical, this show is back! We start off with a banger of an episode featuring two Bitcoin macroeconomists, Parker Lewis and Tuur Demeester. We talked about the Fed, why they really printed the money (it wasn't just COVID) the current inverted yield curve and what the future holds.

What the altcoin community demands of you is to throw all evidence and rationality out the window for their coin. That is a steep price to pay for an airdrop.

# Addressing the Decline in Birth Rates Global birth rates are in decline, a trend that governments find alarming. A dwindling population could lead to a host of economic and social issues, but the policy responses have been largely ineffective. Financial incentives for families, like direct payments, tax breaks, and subsidized child care, have been deployed, but with little impact. This reveals a deeper, fundamental issue. To understand the decline, it's crucial to figure out why couples are having fewer children. The common responses are either a lack of interest or financial constraints. While we should respect the choice not to have children, it's the financial concern that needs addressing. Having children has become an expensive undertaking. From medical costs related to childbirth to time off work, government-mandated expenses like car seats, and the added costs of larger living spaces and education, families are stretched thin financially. Even households with two earners often struggle to make ends meet, making it harder to consider expanding the family. The decline of single-earner households, where one parent could stay home to raise children, can be traced back to the massive expansion of rent seeking. The bureaucratic state has increased massively in all sorts of industries, and the inflation that has funded their expansion has driven up all kinds of costs, including essential resources like health care, education and housing. Both parents often need to work just to maintain a moderate standard of living. A significant reason for these inflated costs is the fiat monetary system. Inflation has eroded the savings and earning power of average families, compelling both parents to enter the workforce. Moreover, real estate prices have soared, making it challenging for families to afford larger homes that could accommodate more children. In essence, the decline in birth rates is not a consequence of individual choice or even culture but a byproduct of a kleptocratic monetary system that has made child-rearing unaffordable. Unless structural changes are made to restore the financial viability of having larger families, any superficial policy incentives are unlikely to reverse the declining birth rates. These economic incentives are giving back to families just a tiny portion of what's being stolen through the fiat monetary system. Stopping this inflationary theft would empower families to have more children, but such a move would require political will that is currently lacking. What we need is a new monetary system and the path is not through political reform, but through the adoption of a new money. Bitcoin really is the fix for low birth rates. Learn more at fiatruinseverything.com

Fork or shut up.

For Free Subscribers: Education Debasement, Crowdfund for Fiat Ruins Everything, the talk from BBB and more! For Paid Subscribers: Another Covenants Proposal, Fake Channel Attack, Real Estate Market Analysis and more! #Bitcoin Tech Talk #359

Bitcoin Tech Talk #359

Interesting Stuff

Nihilism vs. Reality ------------------- The crux of today's political divide isn't necessarily policy; it's fundamentally about how we perceive reality. On one side, we have a post-modern outlook that argues everything is relative, and absolute truth doesn't exist. On the other side, there's a belief in an objective reality governed by fixed truths and constraints. This division is metaphysical in nature, and it's not something easily bridged or reconciled. This divide manifests significantly in how each viewpoint interprets narrative, history, and events. In a post-modern framework, power dictates reality; winners set the rules. Reality, in this context, is a creation of those who hold power. Contrastingly, a reality-based perspective recognizes natural laws and constraints that guide outcomes. While these outcomes aren't inevitable, they operate within a set framework that has its own rules and limitations. One striking difference between these perspectives is the role of morality. The post-modern view lacks a moral dimension, suggesting that any group could dominate if they had sufficient power, thereby creating a different set of rules. The reality-based viewpoint, however, introduces a moral dimension. It proposes that those who align better with natural laws are more likely to succeed. The post-modern approach is unsettling because it negates the concept of progress. In a world where no objective standards exist, every outcome is morally equivalent to any other. This outlook renders terms like 'better' or 'worse' meaningless since there's no objective measure for comparison. Much of today's event analysis operates under this nihilistic framework. The underlying assumption is that current reality is arbitrary, a result of a series of coincidences favoring the existing power structures. While this viewpoint may seem politically correct, it is inherently flawed. Objective realities do exist, as do limits on what those realities could be. Just because we can imagine flying pigs doesn't make that a feasible reality. Effective analysis must start with established truths or first principles. Without them, we descend into a realm of meaningless power struggles and propaganda, devoid of useful understanding. In summary, our approach to understanding the world around us should be grounded in an acknowledgment of certain non-negotiable truths and moral standards.

I'm waiting for the day when Bitcoiners dressing really nicely becomes the norm.

Fiat ruins everything. Christ redeems the broken.

You're not oppressed, you're weak.

We've normalized entrusting our money to third parties. This occurs because people have to outpace inflation, and to do that, they have to put the money with a trustworthy entity. Authorities benefit from this, as they can seize these assets in emergencies. Our lack of ability to handle our own assets, or self-custodying, is a direct consequence of this money-printing approach. We need to learn personal responsibility for our assets. That's the big lesson most people don't want to learn. But they will, when a sufficient emergency comes.