The central bank of China is looking into developing a national cryptocurrency. Do you think this will hurt the dollar?

@BlueMetalChic: And don't forget the military. And the fact that USD is the reserve currency around the world. And central bank collusion.

@Invisible: Even though neither of those have worked in the past? The US dollar took a dive during the recession despite being reserve currency around the world.

Recessions are engineered by money printing and central bank collusion

@Invisible: Engineered? Are you implying that it's intentional?

Of course it is, they all are! Especially the more recent ones. And we're overdue...

@Invisible: Of course. That's not paranoid at all.

@BlueMetalChic: 🙄 The fact that most people refuse to investigate and think it's ridiculous is the reason why they can keep doing it.

@Invisible: And how exactly am I supposed to investigate that? I can only form hypothesis from available evidence. If banks and governments lose tons of money from recessions, why would they intentionally harm themselves?

They don't lose money! People in the loop get on the right side of the market before it explodes. Then, when it does, common people who have their savings in pensions and the stock market and the housing market get crushed and the bankers take all of the profits and buy up the cheap stocks and assets that flood the market. It's the oldest trick in the book.

If you want evidence, look at what is presented in court when banks have lawsuits filed against them. It happens all the time, especially following an economic crisis or market crash. Look up the lawsuits surrounding the 2008 collapse. This stuff is right out in the open for anyone who cares to look.

@Invisible: From your description, I think we're talking about two different sides of a coin.

Regardless, this is exactly why I keep most of my money is cash.

Ha. Well, have fun dealing with inflation and devaluation of the dollar. You said it yourself that nothing real props up the dollar, so why put your faith in it? Real estate is in another bubble, but even that is worth more than cash right now.

@Invisible: Because I'm not an American citizen and I've already lived in 11 different countries. Meaning I have cash in a number of different currencies, including US dollars, Australian dollars, Japanese Yen, Chinese Yuan, and Russian rubles.

@BlueMetalChic: They all get printed for nothing and have no intrinsic value. Central banks work the same in all countries, and all of these countries have mounting debt and shared exposure. Basically, if one goes, they all fall down with it. I think the dollar will die first, but it may very well pull the rest down with it. Even if it doesn't, you can't escape the invisible tax of inflation.

@Invisible: No, you can't, but you couldn't avoid that with digital currency either. And to be honest with you, it's likely that large-scale war will occur soon. Wartime economies are one of the only instances when [i]deflation[/i] actually becomes a reality. Regardless, I'll have plenty enough of my cash stockpiles to keep myself living decently.

@BlueMetalChic: I wasn't trying to imply that digital currency was the answer to inflation. Precious metals and other assets that generally retain value over time are the solution.

War and deflation are unrelated. If you print money, the currency gets inflated, and right now most of the world is heavily dependent on money printing. Stopping at the beginning of a world war would be unwise.

Take a hint from hyperinflationary Germany. Don't keep most of your assets in cash. It's really just paper when the central banks make it so.

@Invisible: On that same token, the USA experienced deflation during the same time periods as Germany experienced its inflation. Cash is much safer to keep than any kind of credit or bank-based currency. Of course, the absolute safest way is in actual valuables, like precious stones or metals.

[quote]Cash is much safer to keep than any kind of credit or bank-based currency.[/quote]
Cash is still currency!

@Invisible: Sit down. Let's talk about that 9gag watermark for a second.

I shouldn't have bothered trying to have an intelligible conversation with a troll

@Invisible: You apparently don't know what a troll is if you consider someone saying having physical money is safer than keeping your money in a bank account where you have no actual right or entitlement to own it. The bank is not legally required to give you your money because it isn't actually yours. You just give your money to the bank, and if they feel like giving it back when you ask, they will. Not to mention they get to charge extra for pretty much every transaction you make through your account, you can be tracked using plastic like credit or debit cards, and you have to pay fees just for owning a bank account in general. Yet you're going to tell me that's somehow better than keeping your money in cash? Sure, cash can be stolen, and it's also dirty, and some people use paper money to snort cocaine, but what the hell, man.

[quote]You apparently don't know what a troll is[/quote]
I know you're not intentionally trolling, but you may as well be with the way you've responded and how you change the subject to some watermark on an image at the first opportunity.

[quote]if you consider someone saying having physical money is safer than keeping your money in a bank account[/quote]
When did I once mention bank accounts? You're putting words into my mouth that don't make any sense, and it's leading me to believe that you don't understand what I'm talking about. Besides, that's [i]still[/i] currency. However you frame it, currency is currency is currency, and it's all shit. Someday you'll regret putting your faith into it.

[quote]The bank is not legally required to give you your money because it isn't actually yours.[/quote]
Actually, in America at least, they are. Bank accounts are even insured by the federal government. But I guess you missed my point that access to your currency is utterly irrelevant if it can be massively devalued without anyone stealing it from you.

[quote]Sure, cash can be stolen, and it's also dirty, and some people use paper money to snort cocaine, but what the hell, man.[/quote]
Oh, is that why you like cash so much? 😂

@Invisible: [quote]I know you're not intentionally trolling[/quote]
You can't accidentally troll. There is no such thing as accidental trolling. Trolling is when you intentionally say logically fallacious things in order to get people to get angry at you. Here's an example. Months ago I was on YouTube, listening to a song by the Doors. Someone in the comments accused Jim Morrison of having stolen the beat from a Lil Wayne song, despite that Morrison was born and then died before Lil Wayne was even conceived. Someone said "This song was recorded in 1969, idiot." The troll replied with "You can't fool me, they didn't know how to record music that long ago." That's trolling.

[quote]When did I once mention bank accounts?[/quote]
You didn't. I did. What I said was, "Keeping your money in cash is safer than keeping your money in a bank account." That was exactly what I said, and you called me a troll for it. Do you bother to read what I type or do you just scan it briefly and decide to pretend you know how to reply?

[quote]Actually, in America at least, they are. Bank accounts are even insured by the federal government.[/quote]
As of 2015, they aren't. Not exactly. They aren't required by any law to give you back the money you give to them. Which is incredibly fucked up...but they're banks, come on.

[quote]But I guess you missed my point that access to your currency is utterly irrelevant if it can be massively devalued without anyone stealing it from you.[/quote]
Yep, I totally missed that point despite having responded to it. And your reply was a photo of a Chinese man making a funny face. That was a wonderful rebuttal.

[quote]Oh, is that why you like cash so much?[/quote]
I like cash because it can be stolen? Now you're just saying stupid shit to distract from being wrong.

[b][i]My point[/i] is that cash is a terrible thing to keep most of your worth in![/b] Cash has no intrinsic value and is an awful thing to have at a time when inflation is devaluing [u]all currencies[/u]. You're much better off investing in assets that at least have an intrinsic value and are losing value more slowly than currency. That being said, I think that there's a pretty serious bubble in most stocks (especially tech) and real estate right now, so those are probably off the table.

I'm not going to bother replying to anything else you said because it's all off-topic bullshit that can basically be summed up by your wanting to argue with me. I don't find you insightful, interesting, or enjoyable to converse with, so I'm not going to continue this discussion.

@Invisible: You're not going to reply to me proving you wrong, is what you mean to say, because you know you're fucking wrong. None of it is "off-topic bullshit." It's a direct response to what you said to me. Don't say things if you're not prepared for me to reply to it.

Of course you don't find me insightful, interesting, or enjoyable to converse with, because I keep calling you out for the stupid shit you keep saying. Like you just did now. Investments are no safer than anything else. Quite the opposite. Even if they stay stable and don't crash, the amount of money you get in return would be completely worthless if inflation were severe enough to make cash money worthless too. You've committed a fallacy called "passing the buck" and that isn't a pun because we're talking about money. You've created an argument which violates your own logic. You're just too stupid to realize it.

Oh my God, listening to you is actually making me lose brain cells.