Quote from: Lloydie on January 11, 2014, 02:28:58 PM

Quote from: jdough on January 11, 2014, 12:17:08 PM

As far as I understand, bitcoin doesn't eliminate the ability to use debt.

What I don't understand is why bitcoin is inherently deflationary. Wouldn't it depends on the economy / GDP? If the economy is growing, bitcoin acts in a deflationary manner, but if the economy shrinks, bitcoin will be inflationary. Right?

Is there an assumption that the economy will always grow, or always be desired to grow? More of a philosophical question, but is a continuously growing economy feasible (or desirable) in the long run on a planet with finite resources?

The global economy is growing due to population growth plus productivity growth plus inflation.

The bitcoin economy is growing as more users join the bitcoin monetary system, at roughly 30% per month.

Both growth rates far outstrip bitcoin's issue rate. Therefore, bitcoin is deflationary even before hitting max caps.

I agree, but what about in the long term, that is when (if) bitcoin reaches global acceptance? Then, no more users are joining and inflation is presumably not controlled by a central agency. (Also in a longer term, there will be a point when the population is no longer growing either due to lack of space or resources or naturally, for whatever reason, as is occurring today in Japan and many European countries.)