John Haar Profile picture
Dec 3 14 tweets 4 min read
In the latest convo between @GeorgeGammon and @JeffSnider_AIP, George gives the following example.

A total of 10 gold coins exist in an economy. Alice agrees to give Bob wheat in exchange for a gold coin. But instead of both sides of the exchange happening now, Alice
gives Bob the wheat now, and she agrees to accept the gold coin from Bob in a year. George and Jeff both say that this is an increase in the amount of purchasing power and therefore an increase in the total money supply.
The scenario they are describing is actually “commodity credit” and it does *not* result in an aggregate increase in purchasing power nor an aggregate increase in the total money supply. Proponents of Austrian Economics have no issue with commodity credit.
George & Jeff neglected to distinguish between “commodity credit” vs “circulation credit”. In their scenario, Bob ends up with wheat, and Alice ends up with a paper claim that says Bob will pay her a gold coin in a year. The total money supply remains unchanged at 10 gold coins.
The paper claim does *not* circulate as money. Why on earth would it? Next time you need to pay a $100 bar tab, try paying with a piece of paper that says your buddy Jim owes you $100. See how that goes.

The only way that credit results in an aggregate increase in the money
supply is if unbacked paper claims circulate as money, i.e. “circulation credit”. Once more claims exist than underlying base money, we’ve created a system of fractional reserve banking.

As @stephanlivera recently summarized it: “a system of fractional reserve banking is only
sustainable with government intervention, typically a central bank lender of last resort, or with government granted permission for banks to not grant in-specie redemption (i.e. not letting customers withdraw their coins).”
In the bar tab example, the only way that the paper debt of my buddy Jim would ever be accepted as payment is if a government/central bank ultimately backed it up, so that the receiver of the payment didn’t feel they had to trust or underwrite Jim’s ability to pay the debt.
George and Jeff made some interesting points throughout their latest discussion. I’m a frequent follower of their content. But on this point, commodity credit does not lead to an aggregate increase in the money supply or purchasing power.

Regarding the creation of
circulation credit, it is a *redistribution* of wealth from those who previously held the base money or held fully backed claims to base money. It is the same dynamic as the issuance of additional shares of stock resulting in a dilution of value for pre-existing shareholders.
For some reason, nearly everyone forgets this reality when it comes to money.

One might argue we “should” redistribute wealth via the creation of money and circulation credit, but that does not change the fact that the creation of money and circulation credit out of thin air
is a confiscation of value from those who previously held base money or held fully backed claims to base money.

I’ll be writing a long form article for Swan on the topic of fixed money very soon!
and CC @CaitlinLong_ who has eloquently spoken in the past about the significant difference between commodity credit and circulation credit!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with John Haar

John Haar Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @john_at_swan

Nov 27
Bitcoiners excel at spotting flaws in a system.

The monetary system is of course the main focus.

But the modern food system has also attracted the attention of Bitcoiners. Seed oils may be the biggest flaw in our current food system.

Seed oil 🧵
This is a short summary *in layman's terms* of why it's extremely likely that seed oils are devastating for your health.

Seed oils refer to oils made from canola, rapeseed, soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, grape seed, rice bran, etc.

AKA "vegetable" oils.
1) The extraction & creation of these oils only occurred for the first time in the past ~100 years. Therefore, these oils are evolutionarily inconsistent with the human body and diet. None of our human ancestors consumed seed oils prior to ~100 years ago.
Read 17 tweets
Aug 16
Have you ever wondered why so many people in legacy finance don't get Bitcoin (and sound money)?

After a 13-year career at Goldman Sachs I have many experiences on this topic and I’ve tried to offer some insights in a new piece.

🧵👇

Hope you find it thought-provoking!
The reality is that most people in legacy finance who hold a negative opinion of Bitcoin do not have a good understanding of Bitcoin.

They have spent very little time researching Bitcoin, and just as little time exploring the topic of sound money.
To begin to grasp the significance of Bitcoin, you need to:

1) Understand what sound money is
2) Understand how Bitcoin can succeed as sound money
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(