No, money is not a “collective illusion” or more often called a “collective delusion.” How many times does Saifedean have to address this one for people to learn…
Fairly certain that idea is not from Menger (maybe a misreading of Menger), but more likely Keynes and it’s a socialist idea, not an Austrian one.
You don’t just arbitrarily decide that one money is better than another and then the market uses it successfully based on delusion. Rather, the marketplace, over time, organically determines the best money based upon monetary properties (scarcity, durability, portability, etc.)
“History shows it is not possible to insulate yourself from the consequences of others holding money that is harder than yours.” - Saifedean https://v.nostr.build/N4lbhGgaLOmTxykq.mp4
Just because the marketplace gravitates towards the hardest money, doesn’t mean it’s not a collective illusion.
If someone just woke up from a 20 year coma, and you offered the choice of $100k or something called a bitcoin, which do you think they’re going to take?
For everyone to eventually accept it as the best form of money, they first have to buy in to the idea.
Money is just another commodity in the market that serves certain functions. They will take whatever they think will serve these functions the best.
