Money – Page 2 – Public Intelligence Blog

Michel Bauwens — Other Non-Capitalist Techno-Utopianisms

Part 5 of Kevin Carson's Techno-Utopianism, Counterfeit and Real

One of the most useful non-Marxist schools is the post-capitalist model of commons-based peer production, which inclues that of Michel Bauwens of the Foundation for Peer-to-Peer Alternatives.

Late capitalism, Bauwens writes (with Franco Iacomella), is beset by two main structural irrationalities: artificial abundance and artificial scarcity.

Continue reading “Michel Bauwens: Non-Capitalist (Peer to Peer) Techno-Utopianism”

2016/03/272016/03/26

Jean Lievens: Peer to Peer Lending

Money

The rise of peer-to-peer lending

Peer-to-peer lending is a relatively new concept in Ireland but in just a few years it’s expanding to provide finance to thousands of Irish SMEs worth millions in the process.

2016/03/132016/03/12

Ty Simpson: Crytosecession & Taxation

Advanced Cyber/IO, Money

Cryptosecession and the limits of taxation

Cryptosecession is the use of cryptographic and blockchain-based technologies (e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitnation) to economically secede from incumbent institutions—namely, the state. Jason is at the 2016 Public Choice Society conference at the moment, where he’ll be presenting a paper in which we show that the threat of cryptosecession exerts an even greater limitation on government over-taxation than fiscal federalism and political secession. Things aren’t altogether rosy, though, because this elicits a sort of ‘arms race’ between secessionists and the state. All depends on the ability to secede to the ‘crypto economy’, which in turn depends on the relative development of crypto technologies of opacity (or resistance) versus state technologies of legibility (or control). The paper can be viewed here and slides for the talk are here. Below is the abstract, and a couple of slides that sum up the argument: Read more.

2016/03/112016/03/10

Jean Lievens: Finland’s Hugely Exciting Experiment in Basic Income, Explained

03 Economy, 11 Society, Money

Finland's hugely exciting experiment in basic income, explained

The headlines are shocking: “Finland plans to pay everyone in the country $876 a month”; “Finland plans to give every citizen a basic income of 800 euros a month”; “Finland plans to give every citizen 800 euros a month and scrap benefits.”

The reality is a little less wild. Finland is definitely not close to paying “everyone in the country” or “every citizen” — not yet, anyway. What it is doing is weighing a proposal for a basic income: an approach to welfare in which residents would get a flat amount of money every month, regardless of how rich they are. Read more.

2016/03/062016/03/05

Daniel Araya: The Promise of Bitcoin (and Blockchain) – An Interview with Andreas M. Antonopoulos

Data, Design, Governance, Innovation, Money

The Promise of Bitcoin: An Interview With Andreas M. Antonopoulos

My recent interview with Andreas M. Antonopoulos, information security expert and tech-entrepreneur, and the author of “Mastering Bitcoin”.

EXTRACT:

2. Bitcoin is simultaneously a currency, a financial asset, and a technology protocol. Underlying bitcoin is the blockchain, a distributed public ledger. For people who are not intimately familiar with either bitcoin or blockchain, could you briefly explain what these technologies consist of?

The blockchain is a distributed database. The magic of bitcoin comes from sharing control over that distributed database through a consensus mechanism called “Proof of Work”. This ensures that no one is in control of bitcoin and that it operates based on predictable rules.

2016/02/292016/02/28

Robert James Beckett: Evgeny Morozov Calls Out Silicon Valley on Basic Income – Empty Words

Money, P2P / Panarchy

Silicon Valley talks a good game on ‘basic income’, but its words are empty

The radical idea of handing cash to citizens regardless of whether they work has taken root in Europe. Now America’s tech elite is backing the concept – but why?

Basic income, therefore, is often seen as the Trojan horse that would allow tech companies to position themselves as progressive, even caring – the good cop to Wall Street’s bad cop – while eliminating the hurdles that stand in the way of further expansion. Goodbye to all those cumbersome institutions of the welfare state, employment regulations that guarantee workers’ rights or subversive attempts to question the status quo with regards to the ownership of data or the infrastructure that produces it.

2016/02/242016/02/23

Antechinus: Spain activists, whistleblower creating digital pay system

Access, Economics/True Cost, Money, Politics

Spain activists, whistleblower creating digital pay system

The French whistleblower and Spanish anti-corruption activists who triggered an investigation of a former International Monetary Fund chief announced Thursday they are designing a digital payment system aimed at excluding middlemen companies that make money from online purchases. Herve Falciani and the Xnet group say their nonprofit, peer-to-peer payment system would work like PayPal on a local basis within European cities for citizen payments to participating businesses and governments.