[mvleming]

From my point of view, this is not too unlike what we have without Bitcoin. With USD or CAD, consumers still have to make a decision whether it is worth exchanging a number of dollars a point in time for something else when instead they can use that money to make more money and eventually have "30 bucks next year".

I can see how making more money with Bitcoin is different than with USD or CAD though, if I were to consider only what you've laid out. With the latter two currencies, I would have to learn about different investment strategies and figure out what would actually make me more money, things as a consumer I don't even know about. But with Bitcoin, I could just hold onto them and except to have more money in the future.

What I am trying to say is I don't think what you've laid out is something new, this incentive–to hold onto money so I can more the future–already exists with our currencies today, but Bitcoin happens to give a little spin to that incentivize–which is it'll easier to have more money in the future.

I would love to hear from a real economist too but I don't think it hurts to take our brains out on a little walk.

[jsun]

See point #2. Central monetary bodies specifically change monetary policy to prevent deflation, worse case they can just print more money to cause artificial inflating to combat deflation.

Bitcoin doesn't have this defense mechanism.

[jacalata]

Not an economist, but my understanding is that that is why central banks adjust interest rates - to encourage people to spend their cash now or even borrow more (decreasing rates) or to hang on to it (increasing rates).