The WEF is a confab of self-congratulatory, self-important people, who demonstrate a detached relationship with the concerns of ordinary people. But it's not a global conspiracy. Everything is ten times more boring than you think it is.

Balaji's book, The Network State, is just utopian nonsense. Sorrynotsorry.

While I am opposed to CBDCs, I am stickler for reality. And as a stickler for reality, I would point out that this Florida legislation almost certainly unconstitutional. Both the US Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and the Interstate Commerce Clause, both provide solid foundations for the federal government to render this legislation ultra vires. So one should recognize this is mostly symbolic, for all intents and purposes. View quoted note →

Following up on this. I suggested the bitcoin price would fall if US liquidity was negatively impacted. Many people here argued with me the opposite would happen, and it would counterintuitively cause the price to skyrocket and become more valuable … somehow. Anyways, I’m just going to take the W here, and remind people that moral clarity doesn’t equal probable outcomes, as satisfying as that would be if it was true.

CNBC

Bitcoin falls below $27,000 as U.S. regulatory crackdown pressures crypto's biggest market makers

Crypto prices slid on Thursday as investors weighed Jane Street and Jump Crypto's pull back from U.S. trading.

I continue to think it’s hilarious that anyone takes the AnCap philosophers from Rothbard onward seriously, as they struggle to figure out whether it’s ethically allowed under the principles of self-ownership for parents of children to let them starve to death or not, by intentionally withholding food. https://mises.org/library/children-and-rights

Google Bard is quickly catching up to ChatGPT. I played around with it like two months ago, and it was clearly inferior to ChatGPT (hence all the mockery). But Google has truly closed the gap quite a bit. For some of the stuff I was using it for — research and ideation — it might even be a little bit better than GPT 3.5 now. Still think GPT-4 feels quite a bit more advanced. But this makes me think people shouldn’t count Google out.

I still think NFTs and NFT-like things are silly ideas. Whether they're called "inscriptions", "digital deeds", or "bobs". And the blockchain used to secure them is of no consideration to my argument. If I ever see compelling utility, I'll be open to changing my mind, and I'll let y'all know.