Payment systems

December 17, 2014

Bitcoin is (Nearly) All Dead

Earlier this year I declared that Bitcoin was (nearly) dead. But as The Princess Bride’s Miracle Max once explained, “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. Continue Reading...

April 10, 2014

How Bitcoin Could Help the World’s Poor

Bitcoin is dead, long live Bitcoin. A few weeks ago the IRS killed off any chance that Bitcoin could become a mainstream currency. That’s probably for the best since it clears the way for it to become something much more important: the world’s first completely open financial network. Continue Reading...

March 25, 2014

How Debit Cards Can Fight Street Crime

When bank robber Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he is (mis)quoted as having said, “Because that’s where the money is.” Turns out that is also why there is more street crime in poorer neighborhoods: because that’s where the cash is. Continue Reading...

March 05, 2014

Bitcoin is (Nearly) Dead

Last year I wrote a series of blog posts about what Christians should know about Bitcoin. In response, one astute reader pointed out an odd juxtaposition: my conclusion seemed to imply that Christians should avoid Bitcoin “at all cost” and yet the Acton Institute accepts donations in Bitcoin. Continue Reading...

August 23, 2013

The Economics of Profiling

I ran across this video yesterday (courtesy of ESA), which I thought presented some interesting challenges and issues: The video was presented on Upworthy as an example of something “all white people could do to make the world a better place,” that is, use their white privilege to address injustices. Continue Reading...

April 16, 2013

What Christians Should Know About Bitcoin (Part 3 of 3)

[Note: This is the third entry in a three part series. You can read the introductory post here and part two here.] The Disadvantages of Bitcoin For people who are not obsessed with anonymity and are not waiting for the U.S. Continue Reading...

April 12, 2013

What Christians should know about Bitcoin (Part 1 of 3)

Every day we hear about contemporary, serious concepts (e.g., chained CPI) and new, silly fads (Vadering), but in the modern age it’s not always easy to tell which category a new idea falls into. Continue Reading...

April 11, 2013

I’m Not Buying Bitcoin

We’ve had some intriguing discussion about Bitcoin at the Acton Institute offices today. It is certainly a phenomenon worth greater attention, and something of significant cultural, social and economic import. But I’m not buying Bitcoin, at least not yet. Continue Reading...