The Bitcoin Standard Podcast

Guest Episode: Power Hour w/ Alex Epstein Jul 18, 2021

Show notes

Saifedean's interview on Power Hour, hosted by Alex Epstein, author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, about how systematic government control--"fiat"--wreaks havoc in the realms, not just of currency, but of science, education, and energy.
They cover:
- How government control in the realm of ideas is treated as benign but is in fact incredibly dangerous.
- The myth that leading universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford are "private."
- What freedom of scientific inquiry looks like, and how it gave birth to the modern world.
- Why much of today's "modeling" would not exist in a free market.
- How the moral case for fossil fuels is taking hold in the Bitcoin community.

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71. Fiat Nutrition with Nina Teicholz Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

In this episode we host author Nina Teicholz to discuss healthy eating and the sorry state of fiat nutrition science. We begin with the corrupt scientific establishment’s treatment of Mary Enig, John Yudkin, and other great scholars who went against the dogma promoted by industrial food manufacturers. We further discuss dietary guidelines, why they came about, and how disastrously effective they have been at getting people the world over to abandon the foods of their ancestors in favor of the heavily-marketed highly-profitable industrial waste. We discuss the work of Ancel Keys, nutrition’s equivalent of John Maynard Keynes, who disfigured nutrition science for decades, popularized a fictitious Mediterranean diet, and strengthened the crusade against meat, eggs, animal fat, and cholesterol. As the nutrition science establishment has remained wedded to the nonsensical diet-heart hypothesis even after decades of contrary evidence, we discuss how fiat funding disfigures the scientific process and prevents it from self-correcting, and why bitcoin can fix this, too. We conclude with discussing Nina’s Nutrition Coalition and the commendable work they are doing to counter establishment nutrition science, and we convince her to start accepting bitcoin donations!

Related links:

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70. The Future of Bitcoin Mining with Ben Gagnon Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

In this episode Saifedean talks to Ben Gagnon, Chief Mining Officer at Bifarms, a Canadian bitcoin mining company that accounts for 1-2% of global hash power. Ben tells the story of how he became involved in bitcoin after missing an opportunity to buy 100 bitcoin for $70 in 2010. He and Saifedean discuss when it makes sense for people and companies to mine bitcoin, whether it’s a good idea to invest in bitcoin mining companies, and how events such as China’s recent mining clampdown will affect the future of the industry.

Links referenced:

The following links relate to Ben’s comments about bitcoin regulation in China leading to a pump in Ethereum’s price during early 2017:

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

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69. The Bitcoin Machine Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about why bitcoin operates like a machine. They discuss why – like a washing machine – bitcoin continues to serve people who use it regardless of whether they understand the mechanics of how it works, why bitcoin’s critics are analogous to luddites, and why money should be understood as a private market good, rather than a public good.

Links referenced:

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

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68. China’s Bitcoin Bans with Neil Woodfine Jul 04, 2021

Show notes

Saifedean's seminar is joined by Neil Woodfine, Head of Marketing at Unchained Capital, who lived and worked in the bitcoin industry in China since 2014. Neil talks about his experience navigating the unpredictable Chinese regulatory environment, how he views China’s recent ban on bitcoin mining in light of previous Chinese bitcoin policy, the implications for the bitcoin network, how Chinese miners adapt to these bans, and the state of bitcoin trading and payments in China in general.

Links referenced:

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

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67. Fake Invisible Catastrophes with Patrick Moore Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

In this episode Saifedean talks to Greenpeace co-founder and “drop out” Dr Patrick Moore about the misperceptions and hysteria surrounding climate change. They discuss the anti-human philosophy of modern environmentalist movements, the limitations of computer modelling as a means of making long-term climate forecasts and why there’s a case for actually increasing rather than decreasing human CO2 emissions. Saifedean and Patrick also touch on broader topics covered in Patrick’s book Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom including ocean plastic, ocean acidification and endangered polar bears.

Links referenced:

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

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66. The Bullish Case for Bitcoin with Vijay Boyapati Jun 27, 2021

Show notes

In this episode Saifedean is joined by Vijay Boyapati, author of one of the most widely known articles for bitcoin beginners: The Bullish Case for Bitcoin. In this wide-ranging discussion Saifedean and Vijay analyse bitcoin’s rise through their shared framework of the Austrian School of Economics. They discuss Vijay’s four frameworks for valuing bitcoin, how technology “hype cycles” can help us understand bitcoin’s price movements and why fiat economists like Paul Krugman are so keen to undermine bitcoin’s success.

Links referenced:

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

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64. Fiat economic models Jun 20, 2021

Show notes

This seminar discusses the problems of economic modeling, using examples from environmental, energy, and macro economics. Saifedean explains how his graduate school experience trying to model energy markets led him to appreciate Mises' calculation problem and the problems of complex quantitative predictive models. What are the problems with attempting to quantify economic and environmental impacts of different fuels? Are the models being applied to bitcoin mining useful? As these absurd models bring fear-mongering to bitcoin mining, will they change bitcoin, or will their flimsy foundations be exposed by the kind of people who like to use a technology built on 100% verification and 0% trust?

Links referenced:

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

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63. Bitcoin efficiency and cost-benefit analysis Jun 16, 2021

Show notes

We often hear bitcoin is a waste, but rarely will someone present a full accounting of all the costs and the benefits associated with bitcoin. In this seminar, based on a chapter from upcoming The Fiat Standard, Saifedean attempts a full accounting of the costs that go into making bitcoin work, from electricity to infrastructure, and compares them to the benefits bitcoin provides: appreciating savings, money transfer, and most importantly, obsoleting fiat money, with its massive costs. We estimate fiat inflation costs the world around 2.5% of global wealth per year, and has incalculable costs with rising time preference, economic distortion, activist government, and conflict. We also discuss how to best think about bitcoin's efficiency, and why it can be approximated by the stock-to-flow ratio!

Links referenced:

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.

THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORS