It doesn't piss me off. IMO it just reflects a rather unimaginative and recency-biased view of the world. His entire historical narrative goes back only to about World War II, which reshaped the entire world with America at its center.
I'd argue that the growth in purchasing power of the US economy was largely driven by the US's unique advantage of political and economic stability compared to other countries over this time period. Not to mention our direct interventions causing instability in other countries. And that situation continues to today. The dollar is still sought out by people all over the world because of its wide acceptance and historical reliability compared to other local currencies. But this is a historical artifact rather than anything superior about the properties or design of the dollar.
The second point I'll make is this: The fact that you have to invest in risk assets to "beat inflation" is precisely one of the points that Bitcoiners argue is bad. Investment opportunities should be taken on only if they're genuinely good opportunities, not because letting money sit idle erodes your purchasing power over time. I'd argue that endless money printing has led to capital misallocation due to things like the Cantillon Effect, the moral hazard of bailouts, and the relentless pursuit of even small returns in a low-interest-rate / high-inflation environment.
I won't dispute that today, value transfer and utility measurement still revolve around dollars. But I'd argue that this, by itself, is not an argument that the dollar system is good. It's just saying that the system is hard to get out of.
It doesn't piss me off. IMO it just reflects a rather unimaginative and recency-biased view of the world. His entire historical narrative goes back only to about World War II, which reshaped the entire world with America at its center.
I'd argue that the growth in purchasing power of the US economy was largely driven by the US's unique advantage of political and economic stability compared to other countries over this time period. Not to mention our direct interventions causing instability in other countries. And that situation continues to today. The dollar is still sought out by people all over the world because of its wide acceptance and historical reliability compared to other local currencies. But this is a historical artifact rather than anything superior about the properties or design of the dollar.
The second point I'll make is this: The fact that you have to invest in risk assets to "beat inflation" is precisely one of the points that Bitcoiners argue is bad. Investment opportunities should be taken on only if they're genuinely good opportunities, not because letting money sit idle erodes your purchasing power over time. I'd argue that endless money printing has led to capital misallocation due to things like the Cantillon Effect, the moral hazard of bailouts, and the relentless pursuit of even small returns in a low-interest-rate / high-inflation environment.
I won't dispute that today, value transfer and utility measurement still revolve around dollars. But I'd argue that this, by itself, is not an argument that the dollar system is good. It's just saying that the system is hard to get out of.