2 min read

Time Preference: Hard Money for Hard Times

Every decision is made with a time horizon in mind. What to eat for lunch? Where to build a business? Who to marry? The same is true for how we choose to save .
Time Preference: Hard Money for Hard Times

Every decision is made with a time horizon in mind.

What to eat for lunch? Where to build a business? Who to marry?

The same is true for how we choose to save.


Long Term vs. Short Term

You may not realize it, but your environment heavily influences how much you think about, and plan for, the future. The simple act of deferring consumption today for some greater expected benefit tomorrow is at the core of your life's trajectory. But what are the factors that determine how likely we are to do this?

This list highlights some of the reasons why an individual might optimize for the present (e.g. play zero-sum games, seek instant gratification, borrow to fund consumption) over the future (e.g. play positive-sum games, delay gratification, engage in long-term investments).

Widespread consumer indebtedness and a general misallocation of resources is a clear signal that the cost of capital is below what a free market would otherwise price it.

Abundant cheap capital encourages short-term thinking and higher risk taking. Similarly, an inflation rate above the rate of interest discourages savings in favour of investment.

This is not normal, sustainable, or productive. Hard times are unavoidable.

But hard times demand hard money, and bitcoin is the dose of reality.

"the idea itself — that ‘you must make your money grow’ — only really emerged in the mainstream consciousness as everyone similarly became conditioned to the unfortunate reality that money loses its value over time." —Parker Lewis

Extra Credit

Bitcoin is the Great Definancialization - Unchained Capital
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