In this episode, Saifedean talks to author and public intellectual Jordan Peterson about how bitcoin solves the problems of The Fiat Standard. Saifedean starts by introducing the Austrian School of Economics, its key concepts such as “opportunity cost”, and how it differs from alternative schools. Saifedean and Jordan then move on to a discussion of the civilizing impact of hard money, why bitcoin is different from other cryptocurrencies, and why bitcoin mining changes the dynamics of the global energy market. Finally, they discuss their experiences working in fiat academia and why online learning is making the traditional university obsolete.

Resources

• Principles of Economics by Carl Menger, the foundational text of the Austrian School of Economics
• Ludwig von Mises’ magnum opus Human Action
• The Use of Knowledge in Society by F.A. Hayek for a discussion of economic calculation within an Austrian framework
• Bitcoin Does Not Waste Energy by Parker Lewis for a discussion of the energy used by bitcoin mining
• Saifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin Standard
• Saifedean’s second book, The Fiat Standard

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