Economics Archives - Neal Bozeman

Metric Economic Units – A basis for universal currencies

Posted on August 8, 2021August 9, 2021 by Neal John Bozeman

A Metric Economic Unit (MEU) is a universal standard for ensuring price stability through a simple, and well understood money supply. It enhances economic confidence and trust in any currency that is based on it. Money supply based on MEU is fixed to the number of participants in an economy and nothing else.

MEUs stabilize money using money supply

Like Dollars and Euros, MEUs are a measure of economic potential capacity and allow people to transact with each other with minimal friction and no transaction costs. Where these currencies differ is in the fact that MEUs are always fixed to participants.

1 MEU is equal to the total economic potential of a single verified participant.

For example, if your economy consists of 1,000,000 people, the money supply is capped at 1,000,000 MEUs, or in other words, 1 MEU per person.

MEUs are to money what micrometers are to meters; 1 million micrometers are equal to 1 meter, and 1 million MicroMEUs are equal to the total economic potential of any person, or 1 MEU. Although the economic value of an MEU is free to change over time, the basis on which it’s supply is created remains fixed and predictable so that prices remain stable.

MEUs can be created in advance and distributed to participants, or can be created over time and introduced in to a system slowly. The only requirement is that the total money supply is capped at 1 MEU per participant.

They are infinitely divisible, with a MircoMEU representing 1/1,000,000 of an MEU.

The fair value of an MEU

MEUs need not define a specific value-per-unit, because free markets discover their relative value. This is the purpose of price discovery, to find out what the relative value is between participants and to cause prices of goods and services to adjust.

Money supply based on MEUs can be more democratic in that they offer a simple basis to help to prevent manipulation of a currency’s value. Often times when governments introduce new money and therefore debase existing money, the new money disproportionately advantages asset holders, as the relative value of assets go up, but the relative influence of labor on prices tends to remain the same.

A money supply that is pegged to MEUs (rather than gold, GDP, inflation, and various other schemes) allows participants to instinctively understand the underlying value of the currency as some fraction of economic potential that they will produce or consume.

Anti-fragile

In adopting MEUs as the basis of a currency, a number of manipulation factors are removed. Money supply that cannot exceed one-million times the number of participants need not experience runaway inflation where prices need to be continually adjusted, and existing currency debased.

Governments tracking statistics using MEUs can look at data that has a consistent relational value over time, rather than needing to be adjusted for price changes due to monetary policy.

Currencies based on MEUs can be used globally or nationally, but with confidence and stability in their exchange value. After all, if one nation’s currency is based on the same underlying mechanism as another’s, you can exchange from one to another with the same understanding of value, as the currencies differ only in name and jurisdiction.

The Metric Digital Currency

The Metric DC is a central bank issued global digital currency that is implemented using MEUs. When a new and unique participant verifies their identity, the money supply limit increases upward to accommodate the new participant, although the actual money supply only increases slowly to approach the new set limit. This is done by spending new money in to the system, as a direct payment to participants on a daily basis, and also on the expenses of maintaining the Metric DC infrastructure.

Discover more about Metric DC or visit https://metricdc.org.

FAQ – Is Metric real money?

Posted on January 12, 2021January 8, 2023 by Neal John Bozeman

Is Metric real money?

Yes. Metrics can be traded, exchanged, and have value.

Are Metrics the same as Bitcoin?

No. Metrics are a digital currency, unlike Bitcoin. They feature privacy and have no transaction fees. The key features of Metrics are an elastic, predictable money supply, high transactability, and an incentive to spend the money, rather than hold it.

How long does a transaction take to complete?

Transactions complete immediately.

Is the price stable?

Yes. This is because the money supply is elastic and pegged to the number of verified members. It grows automatically as verified members join and use the platform. It prevents monetary inflation, and removes the incentives that cause currency deflation.

Can I invest in Metric like in bitcoin?

No. The currency is price stable, and designed for making transactions. There are no miners, and no incentive for holding the currency long term. You can, however, use Metrics to build wealth in new businesses, services, and products, by paying for goods and labor in Metrics.

Can I become a miner?

No, there are no miners.

How do I get an “air-drop”

You cannot. There are no air-drops, no early participation rewards, and no need for such things. Our foundation does not trade Metrics for other currencies, and is not for profit. When you confirm your identity you will begin receiving a UBI of M$10,000 monthly. Every beneficiary receives one and only one allotment, and unused money is continuously taxed away at a rate of 1% per month.

If every beneficiary receives M$10.000 each month, why isn’t there inflation?

The M$10.000 deposited each month is funded by a 1% draw that happens across the network. Accounts above M$1.000.000 will see their accounts shrink slightly every month (less than 1%). Accounts less than M$1.000.000 will see a slight increase every month, with an amount that becomes larger and larger the closer to M$0 the account is. Accounts at M$0 will see M$10,000 deposited. This is because 1% is being drawn, and M$10.000 are being put back in.

Economic traps make good people stick with bad ideas

Posted on January 9, 2021February 10, 2021 by Neal John Bozeman

“What would happen if we paid people to stop doing useless sh*t?”

It’s true enough to say that every modern economy requires it’s citizens to justify their existence economically. Most of us have to convince others that we are worth something, that we have some insight, and from this stems sometimes perverse incentives that leave many people trapped and even perpetuate bad ideas and bad behavior, like fraud and crime. When your livelihood relies on a situation that is corrupt, immoral, inefficient, deceptive, or otherwise a drag to society, you might find yourself with little economic incentive to make it stop. Quite the contrary, you might feel you have to figure out how to keep it going so that you can live. You might even say to yourself, “if I don’t give these people what they want (e.g., take advantage of the situation), someone else will.”

13 best ways to become economically trapped: (presented as clickbait)

Start down a career path that you later come to realize is unnecessary and of no personal value. Stick with it to retirement.
Give up your career to become the 24/7 caregiver of your children. Added bonus, grab yourself an abusive spouse (pun intended).
Become an influencer for anti-aging creams that you later come to know are equivalent in usefulness to selling dog piss and melted snow. Keep selling it because, “people are going to buy it from someone else, anyway.”
Learn to become a productivity guru and market yourself as having supernatural powers to “ten ex (10x)” any business teams’ sales.
Become a day trader. Lose your money. Raise money for investment fund from family and collect a 20% yearly management fee to provide them with “expert insight.”
Join a religion. Become a paid figurehead in some community of said religion. Lose faith. Tell yourself, “I’m just telling people what they need to hear.
Find out your boss is stealing money. Don’t report it… you like your job. Be an accomplice to crime.
Witness your friend commit gang related crime. Witness your friend’s gang tell you to “shut the f*’up or die.” Now prove your loyalty by committing crime.
Go to prison. Serve your time. Never qualify for a job ever again. Go directly to 6.

Imagine you join a cult. At first it seems eye-opening, transformative even, and you feel that you’re becoming a bold and brave new person. You move your family to Podunksville where all the excitement is happening and in order to be closer to the epicenter. Your enthusiasm eventually leads you to getting paid for each new member you sign up.

All of your economic life become closely entwined with life in the cult, as you are paid for your cult marketing services through the money you help to bring in for it. The more members you sign up, the better.

But one day, you get a glimpse that something is off. The cult you used to know and love has become perverted and it’s ideals cheapened somehow. “Stay away,” you think to tell others. But if you do, what happens to your livelihood? Forgetting the social consequences, it’s economically daunting to be honest about your situation, because you will effectively be punished for discouraging new recruits and telling people to stay away.

Welcome. You are now officially trapped, so you continue to bring in new recruits. You feel that if you don’t, your existence will be in jeopardy. Maybe, you also feel that if you had been able to discourage new recruits by showing them the truth of the situation, you might have bettered the entire economy by keeping people from spending time and effort on bad ideas. Alas, no one wants to pay you to give up bad ideas. That kind of thing just doesn’t exist yet.

Reference Prices C$ vs USD$

Posted on January 7, 2021January 7, 2021 by Neal John Bozeman

As of Jan 7, 2021

M1 Money Supply, $6670 mm
2019 US Population: 328,6 mm

= $20.300 per capita US
1mm c$ / 20.300 $US = 49.26 (approximate factor, based on money supply)

$1 usd = 49.26 c$ aprox.

Why cryptocoins have not been adopted by the marketplace

Posted on January 7, 2021January 15, 2021 by Neal John Bozeman

Crypto coins are functionally the same as equities in that they have a constrained supply, reward early participants, are used mainly to raise capital in the form of an external currency, with the exception that in comparison to owning equity, owning coins represents no proportionate value of any underlying value in particular.

Because their money supplies are constrained, volatility relative to other currencies, in addition to transaction fees and major security and privacy flaws, make them worthless to transact with. You wouldn’t buy pizza if it takes you 5% in fees, 4 hours for the transaction to process, and your wallet value might increase or decrease 50% in that time it takes to process the transaction.

Transaction fees, transaction times, energy expenses, and locked wallets are technical challenges that can be overcome. But the money supply issue is at the heart of why cryptocoins can’t be a transactable currency. A fixed, inelastic money supply cripples the ability for ordinary, non investing participants in an economy to acquire and use it. Bitcoin neither represents any underlying wealth, nor makes it possible for people in a marketplace to transact with it.

CHANCES: Whitepaper on digital money optimized for transacting and universal adoption

Posted on January 7, 2021March 16, 2021 by Neal John Bozeman

Abstract: To the question, “what features would make for an ideal, highly transactable, universally adopted digital currency?” we explore major limitations with existing cryptocurrencies and propose a digital money called CHANCES.

What is the ideal currency?

The ideal currency would have stable prices, an elastic and predictable money supply, no transaction costs, and be widely obtainable by participants in any economy. We consider the relationships between wealth, assets, and money, and propose CHANCES as a better currency than traditional fiat and cryptos, and we take full advantage of an all digital currency.

CHANCES…

… pegs the money supply to the total number of verified participants.

… gives 1.000.000 (one-million) c$ to every new verified participant

… allows one and only one authentic registration (participants cannot sign up more than once)

… continuously replenishes verified accounts below 1.000.000 c$ (without inflating money supply, at up to 10.000 c$ monthly)

… slowly draws money from accounts over 1.000.000 c$ (at a rate of less than 1% per month)

… has no transaction fees, no miners, can reverse fraudulent transactions, and insure deposits.

Why?

Money is in all ways relative. It is not wealth, in and of itself, so what is it?

CHANCES supposes that in modern, western economies, which are roughly 2/3rds service based, money mainly represents economic potential, such as the ability to command someone’s attention to perform labor or a service or to create something to be consumed. CHANCES explicitly draws on this connection by supposing that 1.) the money supply represents the total economic potential of all participants in an economy, 2.) that a unit of money represents some portion of potential thereof, and 3.) since the economic value is different between each participant, the function of the marketplace is to continuously discover these relative values and adjust money flows (income and prices) proportionately. For example, a doctor might be paid more than a car mechanic, which is what the marketplace participants are free to discover.

CHANCES looks at money as economic potential, and considers that it must be replenished continuously through the economy and that high participation optimizes choice and competition in a marketplace.

We suppose that the initial allotment of 1.000.000 c$ is approximately 8.5 years of average potential economic value of any random individual. Initial allotments help produce new capital pools to be used in organized endeavors within the economy and can be used to expand money supply through lending and borrowing.

10.000 c$ is distributed to all identity-verified accounts monthly to replenish participation capability in the economy, and proves each verified participant credit worthy. This distribution is funded by simultaneously drawing 1% monthly from all account balances. This has the following effect on verified account balances:

Starting balance	Monthly change
0	+ 10.000 c$
500.000	+ 5.000 c$
1.000.000	no change
1.500.000	– 5.000 c$
2.000.000	– 10.000 c$

Unverified and anonymous accounts may exist, however, they are not given an initial allotment and do not receive any monthly benefit. Additionally, they are still subject to the 1% universal draw-down and they do not affect the base money supply.

Money supply

Pegging money supply to number of verified participants (benefactors) is a novel way to to keep prices stable while encouraging the network to grow. There is no hold and wait incentive that shows up in traditional cryptocurrencies, and there is no late-adopter penalty where people who come in later pay more to enter.

The following shows the relationship between verified participants and the money supply.

Accounts	Base Money Supply (in millions)	Relative Value
1 verified account 1 wallet	1 c$	1
1 verified account 100 wallets	1 c$	1
1000 verified accounts 10.952 wallets	1.000 c$	1
365.000.000 verified accounts 1bln wallets	365.000.000 c$	1
8 bln verified accounts 100 bln wallets	8.000.000.000 c$	1

Operating and maintaining this public, not for profit network will require overhead. We propose that internal accounts will be created and tied exclusively to a CHANCES Foundation. These accounts will be listed publicly and used to spend money on the network to cover operational costs which will also be publicly posted. Internally used accounts will be subject to the same 1% draw and replenishment rules.

Features of Chances

	Chances	Bitcoin
Centralized	Yes	No
Reversible Transactions	Yes	No
Transaction fees	None	Variable/high
Transaction speed	Immediate	*1 hour+
Deposit insurance	Yes	No
Privacy	Yes	No
Anonymity	No	**No
Money supply	Elastic	Constrained
Price volatility	Stable	Volatile
Transactability	High	Low
Low energy consumption	Yes	No
Cryptographically secure	Yes	Yes
Meaningful	Yes	No
Incentive to spend	Yes	No

* Variable
** Functionally, not anonymous.

Privacy & anonymity

Anonymity is the ability to transact without exposing identifying information to any counter-party or 3rd-party. Privacy is a degree of protection from having your transactions disclosed to a 3rd-party.

Cryptocoins, although transactionally secure, offer no anonymity above and beyond existing methods available to all forms of money, such as obfuscation through legal entities, or bank mixing schemes, and indeed, they decrease privacy as every transaction is publicly recorded. One need only know some number of wallet locations and their benefactors in order to reveal a detailed picture of participants.

Primary exposure points include:

Exchanging into crypto at market through an exchange.
Establishing “mining” setups while paying for them with non-crypto currency.
Behavioral analysis, by tracking the flow of transactions and their timings to deduce whom has transacted.
Use of third party wallets.

Truly, in any mode of exchange, some level of personal detail is exposed, and any transaction can only be undertaken if the benefits outweigh the risk of exposure. Many transactions indeed benefit from knowing the counter party to the transaction, such as when using bank cards and 3rd party payment processors to create safe and trustworthy shopping environments.

Although not anonymous, typical banking laws in OECD countries offer superior privacy to distributed ledger based crypto currencies. True anonymity for a widely adopted currency seems neither possible nor practical, and we instead take a view towards privacy in establishing the framework for Chances.

Distributed ledgers

Given that distributed ledgers do not protect privacy, we do not intend to implement them for CHANCES. We expect to use a cryptographically secure, private ledger than can be audited without disclosing user information.

Why has nobody adopted crypto for transacting?

Please see a break-out of this discussion. Why cryptocoins have not been adopted by the marketplace

Resources

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Peak attention and the coming attention recession

Posted on December 26, 2020December 30, 2020 by Neal John Bozeman

The 2020 pandemic is quite possibly the maximum amount of “out of pocket attention” that us humans could, or will ever need to, allocate to pressing distractions in every corner of our periphery. Is it possible to consume more headlines, feeds, stories, or Netflix originals than we can consume during a long lockdown?

If only a small percentage of a consuming population claws back some portion of their day-to-day attention, whether it’s replaced by some curiosity of their own, or simply the burden of re-starting a commute, we will see that the businesses which boomed during lockdown be penalized to some degree. If there could be a renaissance of attention, we would hopefully see even greater shifts in our economy. All of us spending more of our attention on creative endeavors makes competition stiffer and choice greater.

Competition and choice is terrible for equity markets.

In the future, will robots be attending to most of what’s important, for us? Are they already doing that?