They will probably be trying to speak to the router right now to ask it to fix itself
Tbis is actually a fair summary!
For our overseas friends, this is absolutely typical of the state of the UK and a perfect indicator of quite how massively shafted it currently is.
Only in the UK would the government manage to ensure there is no Wifi connection at the very event where you are pretending to launch a 'bold new AI strategy'.
Bond market jitters may be a global problem. But what might be happening here is fundamental.
A modern monetary theorist will tell you that a state who can print its own money can never go 'bankrupt'. Even more so if the state's debts are denominated in their own currency (as they are in the US or the UK). And actually, I agree with them up to this point. A state can keep on printing money to pay interest on its debts, ad infinitum. All good so far.
But where MMT and reality part company is in MMT's failure to consider the second and third order consequences of creating vast amounts of new money in order to service existing debts. Modern money is effectively CREDIT; credit means trust, and most especially, trust that you'll be paid back what you are owed (and that the money will be worth something when that happens).
Creating new money debases the currency by immediately reducing the value and purchasing power of all pre-existing money in the system.
Secondly, the creation of new money causes price inflation as a larger amount of currency is able to chase the same amount of goods and services (there always being a lag before the supply can catch up with new demand).
Thirdly, the distribution of new currency is not equal. In the modern economy, the majority of new money is created by banks making loans, and the new money accrues to those in a position to borrow, or to those who are connected with the banks themselves. This is the Cantillon Effect in action.
So what is the conclusion to all this, and what is likely to happen? A few guesses:
- > No nation state is remotely capable of paying down the unimaginable sums below. The principal amounts here will only ever be refinanced, never repaid.
- > Government is an inherently unproductive enterprise. Governments obtain funds from their productive population, or from borrowing. If markets lose confidence in their ability to repay (or, importantly, in the ongoing value of their currencies), they will tax their populations harder. They could cut government spending, but they tend not to like doing that....
- > servicing these giant debt burdens will lead, inevitably, to currency debasement.
So what can you do, as an individual caught up in the middle of this mess that is not of your making?
If you're one of the lucky ones who has any savings at all, recognise that leaving these savings in the currency of a government that wilfully debases them is, perhaps, not a good idea.
If you don't have any savings, and if you live paycheck to paycheck, then I'm really not sure what the solution is. I'm afraid that these people vastly outnumber the lucky ones, and I hope we collectively manage to stop this monetary madness before something breaks. But it may already be too late for that.
Try nostr:npub15369wu3wzzar5fclhecyqfv683x69n6nhlg7rxqnsg2dydgxflpq3apswl - nice UX and never had a problem with them so far
Great stuff - love to hear it!
I agree that it's more likely than note that this will just get pushed through. However no industry body in the UK apart from us are making these points, and they need to be part of the conversation. And self custody/KYC free sats need to be part of the solution!
Introducing: “What’s The Problem?”
Let’s help *everyone* get to the starting line.
Accessible to all, the story of Fiatello and the Big Red Button is something we can all send *before* the first Bitcoin book / podcast / video.
Please share it with everyone you care about (link below).
Thank you Bitcoin 🧡
nostr:npub1mtqa33dfl620yf8qjk6j2a7r8skv9w8n5tt2m89ag6z947xfslcqn9q4xu
A tremendous, and wonderfully accessible, piece of work from nostr:npub1mtqa33dfl620yf8qjk6j2a7r8skv9w8n5tt2m89ag6z947xfslcqn9q4xu.
A little understood aspect of Bitcoin is that Bitcoin in and of itself is not necessarily what excites people in the industry. What IS really exciting is the potential of this tool to fix and mitigate a multitude of problems.
Whether your savings are being eaten by inflation, whether you feel you will never be able to afford a house, or whether you can't understand why everything is getting more expensive while your quality of life seems to get worse, problems with our monetary system are likely to blame.
Bitcoin attracts people who are fixers, who have seen these problems and want to do something about them. nostr:npub1mtqa33dfl620yf8qjk6j2a7r8skv9w8n5tt2m89ag6z947xfslcqn9q4xu has set this out with great clarity, and almost without mentioning Bitcoin at all....
nostr:note17zsx9u7v7y28jc650n0yarjqh7max09vh57q67z54z464m7lsgnqzgmd97
Amazing work, my friend! Thank you for all you, nostr:npub1hwgw0uznr49t4gullpgfz4m5xnakl5a0l88m3k382xv7ys0tfmlsd503sg and the Bitcoin Policy UK team do!
very much appreciated - you may well have guessed that it's all been a pleasure!
Year end round up for nostr:npub1z74dj8y9xgq3lmz3eyvarzmwxwllhuzewz2exwz5j57tf6jssmss9pd4yx - - and also our Q4 Newsletter at the same time. Apologies to all our supporters for the delay in newsletter publications; but we hope that this synopsis will show why publication has been slow!
https://bitcoinpolicyuk.substack.com/p/year-end-round-up-2024
A few months ago I filed a FOI Request with the UK's National Crime Agency which claimed that cryptocurrency and end-to-end encryption pose a risk to National Security.
First they ignored me, so we reported the NCA to the Information Comissioner's Office, who then denied my request for filing under a pseudonym. Today nostr:npub1wl39ydk5rpecvtrzhq67afl9ykn2ty2xdxdkfmyan0rss3f3ma5sndznlx and nostr:npub1z74dj8y9xgq3lmz3eyvarzmwxwllhuzewz2exwz5j57tf6jssmss9pd4yx filed a new FOI Request to obtain information on how the UK came up with their outlandish claims.
But here's the catch: we realized that the NCA is exempt from the FOIA process, and only liable to environmental requests.
Thankfully, Freddie and BTCPolicy UK have done extensive work detailing how Bitcoin can cause a positive change in reaching the UK's sustainable energy goals and further a shift toward renewables – meaning that the NCA's criminal framing of cryptocurrencies does not just impact your right to privacy, but directly impacts UK environmental policy.
Stay tuned for the next reason they'll come up with to deny our request, because we're not backing down 🔪
If you want to support our work, please consider donating to our Geyser Fund: https://geyser.fund/project/therage
In the least surprising news of 2024, the National Crime Agency has failed to respond in time to the Freedom of Information request that we prepared with nostr:npub1mznweuxrjm423au6gjtlaxmhmjthvv69ru72t335ugyxtygkv3as8q6mak .
We will be chasing them up, of course, but it's always sad to have one's prejudices confirmed.
nostr:note1yw92w2fy8qh2xmcurfmfp47k82hh7yj2ex48fwzdv2m3757g90js3pa8ld
hugely fun so far, and really eye-opening. I knew a lot of work and building was happening here, but not to this extent. and also really innovative solutions that Europeans with reliable power or cellular coverage might never have thought of
A huge pleasure finally to meet the man (nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m) who zapped me my first sats over Nostr. Thanks for that, and for taking the time to meet with so many of us random Bitcoiners!
We have added a new article to our substack.
Many thanks to our guest writer, Daniel Feather, for his piece on "Bitcoin and the Redemption of Economics: Lessons from Physics".
https://bitcoinpolicyuk.substack.com/p/bitcoin-and-the-redemption-of-economics
Even for old hands, this is a great read from our guest writer, Daniel Feather. Daniel is both a physisict and an economist (also includes a terrific debunk appendix and a suggested reading list for those new to Bitcoin)
nostr:note16whcu2f5xlawr3pezh307q9nqgh3jdsa4c3akfzg8rlmh66p8yqs47ayt2
Modern financial systems are designed to benefit the elite, often at the expense of ordinary citizens, shaping society through the intertwined forces of debt and politics. New interview with @freddienew.
Listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5b2lZTTo7yaxWhx4uk8UIq?si=5c0a9237680442ee
Watch: https://youtu.be/gN_xLNQKfSo
The heart of this for me is that easy money creation, and cheap debt, led to a boom in company acquisitions - where companies like Thames Water were bought with newly created money in the form of cheap debt, for which the target (the water company) pays. This is the reason there is no money left for maintaining their infrastructure - they have to spend it all on debt servicing
It was brilliant for you if you were the buyer, but generally terrible for the target company (and by extension in this case, everyone who needed to drink water).nostr:note1apvpxkmd77pzqju0u8ge6xjd5ccq6exqznf5cpmy48jcu7vdax6qtucukx har
The UK is falling behind, wherever you look.
From failing at AI data centre construction to filling in potholes, there are stories of missed opportunities and mismanagement everywhere.
But in one area, we can still claim a bronze medal – our national Bitcoin holdings, placing us third among all nation state holders.
In the time since we first wrote to Tulip Siddiq MP on this topic in July, the value of this stake has increased by over a billion pounds. And all this with the Financial Conduct Authority continuing their hostile policies towards Bitcoin adoption.
Imagine the potential if as a country we chose to embrace this asset and this sector, instead of trying to drive it away?
In October, nostr:npub1z74dj8y9xgq3lmz3eyvarzmwxwllhuzewz2exwz5j57tf6jssmss9pd4yx welcomed a response from the City Minister and are delighted to be in dialogue with her and with her team. Today, we publish another open letter in reply, and share the details below.
We look forward to working practically with Treasury and with Ministers to discuss and consider the issues we raise in more detail. 
Call your parents. Tell them that you love them. Do it now.
https://dergigi.com/2024/11/15/he-hanged-himself-in-the-morning/
Terribly sad to read this, nostr:npub1dergggklka99wwrs92yz8wdjs952h2ux2ha2ed598ngwu9w7a6fsh9xzpc. sending you and your family love and condolences.
The OBR tells us that interest payments on the UK's national debt should cost £73.5 billion in 2024-25.
Just interest payments, mind you. Not actually paying down the debt. Interest payments that are due every year, and which increase as we borrow more.
The year after, interest payments may well be TEN percent of the government's entire annual tax intake. We already spend more on interest than we do on defence, and soon it will overtake education (110bn) and the NHS (180bn). Borrowing more only makes the problem worse and will lead, eventually, to all of the nation's productive effort being spent on interest repayments for a debt that can never be repaid.
The only sensible conclusion here is to realise that no government, Tory or Labour or of any other stripe, can ever really do anything to resolve this. And with this realisation, to take steps to protect yourself, your family, your business, and your community.
The only route out of this is currency debasement. The purchasing power of sterling will inevitably trend towards zero. Armed with this knowledge, work out what it is you need to do.
No government is coming to save you. You have to do it for yourself.
They fuck you up, your mum and dad
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had,
And add some extra, just for you.
"Survivors of genocide, totalitarian regimes and conflicts; they're all hopeful for the future because of this thing... and that's maybe its superpower. Not necessarily the scientific properties of it (which are revolutionary) but the hope part of it maybe is the biggest use case of all."
Like many others who attended, I struggle to put into words the impact of last week’s Global Bitcoin Summit. I do my fighting from behind a keyboard, or in a suit, but we heard during the event from some of the bravest, most resilient, and most indefatigable people that I’ve ever had the privilege to meet in person. People who had literally survived genocide, escaped from totalitarian nations, or endured torture as political prisoners, and yet who had never given up hope.
I’ve returned to the UK inspired - both full of gratitude for having experienced the summit, and invigorated to continue the fight for financial freedom here.
Enormous thanks to everyone involved, and especially to nostr:npub1zhqcda52mrvcc0vkwegwsp5xtpk6l6x5kqx85f06tu9lw5h6xx0scch0dw, nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu, nostr:npub1wlkfvm7dvnusz9fv44wuwucu0jp3lc3wqt36ax0lz33hukjga7wq6hqwhy, CK, @Femi Longe, the Bitcoin Park team , nostr:npub1atn7mlwt08erz4ap47gef92xfey65a4z9ed9vec53u5kc9v94pusl6h4x3, nostr:npub10cxz2h7n6rumfpuf49zt4uvm7skzqk5u25vesp0tzdtnkvsnwjyqaffcj3, Alex Li, and Anya Chekhovich.
It’ll take a while to absorb what we saw and heard. But hope is the key takeaway.
https://youtu.be/xA3veyULpjQ?si=X6t8WqTruMUFIo4S
