Jacquelyn Melinek

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        <ul>
                <li>Booth thinks our society is on a path where the power in the free market is being taken away and put into very few hands, but bitcoin provides the opportunity for the exact opposite system</li>
                <li>As more and more people embrace bitcoin, you can see the real market of other prices falling against it because that is the free market, he said</li>
            </ul>
    
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<p>Jeff Booth, entrepreneur and author of “The Price of Tomorrow,” joined Blockworks at The Bretton Woods: The Realignment conference and discussed the current state of debt, bitcoin and the free market.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“The debt today is being monetized because the system must grow forever,” Booth said. Over $185 trillion of the global debt today was created during the last 20 years, he said. “All because we created a system that’s a credit based system, if you let the natural market happen it’ll fail,” he added.</p>



<p>“We’re caught in this mirage of thinking that prices always have to go up or that our money has to be worth less each year for our system to work because we created a system like that,” he said. </p>



<p>The system can’t change itself and our society is on a path where the power in the free market is being taken away and put into very few hands, but bitcoin provides the opportunity for the exact opposite system, he said. “It’s the exact opposite because the system can’t change itself, technology often forces a system change that imposes itself on an existing system,” Booth added.&nbsp;</p>



<p>As more and more people embrace bitcoin, you can see the real market of other prices falling against it because that is the free market, he said. </p>



<p>Watch my full interview with Booth below.</p>



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<p><strong><em>Want more investor-focused content on digital assets? <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a> September 13th and 14th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in NYC. Use code ARTICLE for $75 off your ticket. <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.</em></strong></p>


Jeff Booth: The Power of the Free Market is in Few Hands, Bitcoin Fixes That

Jason Yanowitz


<p>Blockworks has curated a collection of the latest articles and research on inflation. Read on and scroll to the bottom for a complete <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/category/education/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">list</a> of our Investor&#8217;s Guides.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Articles</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.lynalden.com/inflation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Ultimate Guide to Inflation</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Lyn Alden, Lyn Alden Investment Strategy</h4>



<p>Inflation is a controversial and complex topic. This article looks at 150 years of data across multiple countries to provide a general idea of what inflation is, what to look for, and how to invest with inflationary and deflationary risks in mind. &#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.lynalden.com/inflation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Keep reading</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/these-3-policy-failures-are-killing-the-american-dream.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">These 3 Policy Failures Are Killing the American Dream</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Eric Levitz, Intelligencer, Square, October 7, 2019</h4>



<p>The United States has never been richer. In 2018, American households boasted a collective net worth of over <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/06/25/six-facts-about-wealth-in-the-united-states/">$98 trillion</a>. If that wealth were divided evenly across the U.S. population, every human being in our country would have roughly $298,000 to their name — and every family of four would be millionaires. &#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/these-3-policy-failures-are-killing-the-american-dream.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Keep reading</a></p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Books</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36490332-talking-to-my-daughter-about-the-economy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works &#8211; and How It Fails</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Yanis&nbsp;Varoufakis, Jacob Moe&nbsp;(Translator), <strong>Farrar, Straus and Giroux</strong>, May 18, 2018</h4>



<p>In&nbsp;<em>Talking to My Daughter About the Economy</em>, activist Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former finance minister and the author of the international bestseller&nbsp;<em>Adults in the Room</em>, pens a series of letters to his young daughter, educating her about the business, politics, and corruption of world economics. &#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076H4WMY1/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B076H4WMY1&amp;SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8854502-when-money-dies?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=7AOvHT6m0W&amp;rank=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Adam Fergusson, PublicAffairs, October 12, 2010</h4>



<p><em>When Money Dies</em>&nbsp;is the classic history of what happens when a nation&#8217;s currency depreciates beyond recovery. In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt. People watched helplessly as their life savings disappeared and their loved ones starved. Germany&#8217;s finances descended into chaos, with severe social unrest in its wake.Money may no longer be physically printed and distributed in the voluminous quantities of 1923. However, &#8220;quantitative easing,&#8221; that modern euphemism for surreptitious deficit financing in an electronic era, can no less become an assault on monetary discipline. Whatever the reason for a country&#8217;s deficit &#8212; necessity or profligacy, unwillingness to tax or blindness to expenditure &#8212; it is beguiling to suppose that if the day of reckoning is postponed economic recovery will come in time to prevent higher unemployment or deeper recession. What if it does not? Germany in 1923 provides a vivid, compelling, sobering moral tale.&nbsp;&#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Money-Dies-Devaluation-Hyperinflation/dp/1586489941" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50157837-the-price-of-tomorrow?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=9QnrgHKQyd&amp;rank=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future</a></strong>&nbsp;</h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Jeff Booth, Stanley Press, January 14, 2020</h4>



<p>We live in an extraordinary time. Technological advances are happening at a rate faster than our ability to understand them, and in a world that moves faster than we can imagine, we cannot afford to stand still. These advances bring efficiency and abundance—and they are profoundly deflationary. Our economic systems were built for a pre-technology era when labour and capital were inextricably linked, an era that counted on growth and inflation, an era where we made money from inefficiency. That era is over, but we keep on pretending that those economic systems still work. The only thing driving growth in the world today is easy credit, which is being created at a pace that is hard to comprehend—and with it, debt that we will never be able to pay back. As we try to artificially drive an economic system built for the past, we are creating more than just economic trouble. On our current path, our world will become profoundly more polarized and unsafe. We need to build a new framework for our local and global economies, and soon; we need to accept deflation and embrace the abundance it can bring. Otherwise, the same technology that has the power to bring abundance to us and our world will instead destroy it. In this extraordinary contrarian book, Jeff Booth, a leading mind and CEO in e-commerce and technology for 20 years, details the technological and economic realities shaping our present and our future, and the choices we face as we go forward—a potentially alarming, but deeply hopeful situation. &#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Price-Tomorrow-Deflation-Abundant-Future/dp/1999257405" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48839932-what-has-government-done-to-our-money?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=bSB8KzMaLp&amp;rank=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">What Has Government Done to Our Money?</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Murray N. Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises Institute, May 27, 2015</h4>



<p><em>What Has Government Done to Our Money?</em> details the history of money, from early barter systems, to the gold standard, to present-day systems of paper money. Rothbard explains how money was originally developed, and why gold was chosen as the preferred commodity to use as money. The author also explains how the gold standard makes money a commodity, and how market forces create a stable economy. Rothbard shows that many European governments went bankrupt due to World War I and left the gold standard in order to try to solve their financial issues, which was not the right solution. He also argues that this strategy was partially responsible for World War II and led to economic problems throughout the world.  &#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-Has-Government-Done-Money/dp/1610166450" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read it</a></p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Podcasts and Videos</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-end-game-ep-5-russell-napier/id1508585135?i=1000486918326" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Grant Williams Podcast, The End Game &#8211; Episode 5</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The End Game &#8211; Episode 5: Russell Napier, Apple Podcasts, August 2, 2020</h4>



<p>Bill and Grant welcome Russell Napier to The End Game to discuss the reasons behind the long-term disinflationist&#8217;s recent decision to step off that train and prepare for the return of inflation.</p>



<p>Using examples from the 1690s, 1930s and 1970s, Russell makes the case for inflation in the United States hitting 4% before the end of the year and explains why recent moves by the U.S. government to circumvent the Federal Reserve have changed the game dramatically and, potentially, bring The End Game much closer. &#8230; </p>



<p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-end-game-ep-5-russell-napier/id1508585135?i=1000486918326" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Listen in</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KraHsCjY8_8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Inflation is theft</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Lex Clips, Robert Breedlove and Lex Fridman, YouTube, April 19, 2021</h4>



<p>Robert Breedlove is a decentralized finance entrepreneur, philosopher, and podcaster.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KraHsCjY8_8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watch it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edJPodRQ7Z0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">What is Inflation</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Preston Pysh (We Study Billionaires), YouTube, May 12, 2012</h4>



<p>By understanding what causes inflation, we can then understand how it destroys the yield of a loan and maintains the value of corporate ownership. We learned that inflation is generally caused when the government increases the supply of money in the financial system. When this occurs, members of the system have more money to spend and the price of goods and services go up. This increase in price can drastically destroy a long term investment if the investor doesn&#8217;t account for the compounding inflation rate. &#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edJPodRQ7Z0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watch it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIxqz5ea-Gk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Connection between Inflation and Bitcoin</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">On the Margin, Michael Ippolito and Lyn Alden, Blockworks, YouTube, March 17, 2021</h4>



<p>On this episode of On The Margin, we discuss the transition of monetary to fiscal dominance, Lyn&#8217;s thoughts on inflation, the implications of a steepening yield curve, what she would do as chairman of the Federal Reserve, and her thoughts on the growing digital asset ecosystem.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIxqz5ea-Gk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watch it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJEvuaHyPlQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lacy Hunt: The Road Through Deflation Toward Eventual Hyperinflation</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Macro Voices, Erik Townsend, Patrick Ceresna, Dr. Lacy Hunt, YouTube, April 30, 2020</h4>



<p>MacroVoices Erik Townsend and Patrick Ceresna welcome Dr. Lacy Hunt to the show to discuss his core thesis on interest rates and inflation, how to interpret FED policy in inflation and perspectives on the FED bailing out the high yield market.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJEvuaHyPlQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watch it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPIC5F_loFk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeff Booth on the Link Between Inflation and Inequality</a></h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">On the Margin, Michael Ippolito and Jeff Booth, Blockworks, YouTube, April 14, 2021</h4>



<p>Jeff&#8217;s main observation is as simple as it is profound: we live in a deflationary world that depends on inflation for economic growth. How can we reconcile those two ideas? In short, we can&#8217;t. In this episode we covered the powerful deflationary impacts of deflation, the inflationary structure of our current monetary system, how government meddling is leading to inequality, and how Bitcoin may lead us to a brighter future. &#8230;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPIC5F_loFk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watch it</a></p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Get educated. Check out <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor&#8217;s Guide to Bitcoin</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor&#8217;s Guide to NFTs</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-defi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor&#8217;s Guide to DeFi</a>.</h3>



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<p><em>The content of this webpage is not investment advice and does not constitute any offer or solicitation to offer or recommendation of any company, product, or idea. It is for general educational purposes only and does not take into account your individual needs, investment objectives or specific financial circumstances.</em></p>
