Oddbean

Yesterday I did a long-form lecture in a class at Princeton about the history of money through the lens of technology. The nice thing was that it helped me figure out what to include in my upcoming larger talk, discussion, Q&A, and book signing at Princeton about Broken Money. The talk portion of this event is shorter, so I need it to be as concise and impactful as possible, and I've been thinking about what to emphasize and I really have a good outline for that now. If you're in the PA/NJ/NYC area, consider coming to the event on Feb 6th. It's open to the public but requires registration: https://gceps.princeton.edu/booktalk-lynalden/ https://m.primal.net/HaLn.png

Good summary is money has evolved in the past and continue to evolved to be better money. Each evolution is to fix the flaw of previous money. We went from barter > seashells etc > metallic coins> fiat backed by gold> now fiat only. Key is understanding the flaws of gold back fiat money and fiat money. Because bitcoin is intended to solve/fix this flaws Check out my short summary: https://buybtcretireearly.substack.com/p/chapter-2-what-is-money #bitcoin

Lyn I just got Broken Money in the mail. It’s so easy to read and easily digestible. I’ve been thinking about it for months and finally got it and The Bitcoin Standard. I’m only 100 pages in, and am captivated. Thanks for all the effort of writing this. I was very excited to see the profits from the first 1k copies to go to hrf. Many blessings! And congrats to you and Preston for the GP at Ego Death

Lyn, if the topic of Canadian CBDCs comes up during the discussion/Q&A, request you ask a policy question: whether the appropriate constraints (privacy-preserving or anti-authoritarian) the government will, or should, place on itself so as to not completely abuse the power of controlling its people's money and transaction ability? I'd reference China's behavior with its CBDC and the illegal actions of the Canadian government to freeze bank accounts during the Canadian Trucker protest. In a short time we've already seen fairly damning evidence that government needs constraints in terms of controlling money, if it claims liberty as a value. Also, thank you for your book and all your writings. It's wonderful.

Would love to make it but can't. In light of Powel's recent remarks on price instability hurting people in poverty the most and suggesting that, THAT is a concern of the fed. It would be amazing if you addressed how Fed policy HAS effected people in poverty. Especially because there will be an ex central bank member there. Truly appreciate the integrity you bring to the table.