From: "Arik Schenkler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Definition: An Internet Gold System is "solvent" if it has enough > physical gold free and clear to satisfy a complete & simultaneous > bail-out of all internet gold in the system. > > I agree with you. > > What I am saying is that it is your conception that a currency system is > "SOLVENT".
Yes, ultimately each individual decides for himself whether or not a currency system is trustworthy. However, I subscribe to the old-fashioned notion that "the truth is out there," meaning that each system has certain real properties independent of what I believe, know, or don't know about it. We can't always know these properties in some direct sense like seeing the color red, we can only try to stack the odds in our favor. > If you believe that the currency system is and more important will be > SOLVENT in the future when you need it to be SOLVENT - then you'll work with > it. > > If you believe that a currency system is not SOLVENT or will not be > SOLVENT - you will not work with it. Yes, it all comes down to trust. You trust the principals, trust the checks and balances, trust the auditors, trust other people who use the currency, etc. Over time you amass a bunch of circumstantial evidence that convinces you the odds are very good the gold is really "there". > What I am saying that you NEVER have a future audit. We cannot foresee the > future. We can assume. We might be right or wrong. By advocating clear definitions, I am not claiming some omniscient way of deciding whether a given system meets those definitions. We still have to rely on trust and belief, of course. I'm just trying to identify what it is that we are trusting and believing, and what methods we can adopt to increase the odds that our beliefs are correct. Good point about "future audits"! A system may be good today and bad tomorrow. The best you can hope for on this point is good governance procedures, accountability, separation of functions, checks and balances, etc., and the best these can do is increase the odds that the system will be good tomorrow. Note that I've mentioned "odds" in all five of the paragraphs I've written here. That's because I agree with you that there is fundamental uncertainty on this earth. I do think, however, that we can manipulate the odds in our favor, as I'm sure you'll agree. It's interesting, as much as we gold advocates tend to despise Federal Reserve Notes, we still need to use those things routinely. I guess I can see how something like InternetDollar.com could act as a nice "buffering" exchange mechanism for the dreaded paper as long as it exists. It's neat that you have convenient ways "in" and "out" (wire, check, e-gold, etc.) It also looks like the system is fully "solvent", meaning you would never turn anybody down for a redemption because the money is just "there" all the time. :o| One question though, Ari. I looked around the site and didn't see the fees you charge on spends WITHIN the system (between I$ accounts). I saw the fees for in- and out-exchanges, but not for internal spends. What am I missing? -- Patrick --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
