Matt’s review of The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking > Likes and Comments
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I agree 100%, well reviewed!
35% through and am at the part where he apparently deems himself an expert on art and aesthetics... definitely agree so far on this review.
Couldn't agree more. It's such a shame about the middle - it's tainted what I've otherwise found to be a fascinating book. I couldn't quite believe it when he suddenly went off on one about the 'talentless hacks' that populate the world of contemporary art. Talk about an agenda...!
Well you saved me some time, thanks for the review
The rant he goes on about modern art.... So out of place. It made no sense.
Where would you say the middle 50% starts and ends?
I agree totally with this review.
I skipped the middle part when he gives his opinion about arts.
I was about to settle down to write a review but this pretty much sums up what I would have said.
I was about to write my own review, but then I realized there's no way I can say it better than you just did, so why bother!
Sorry Marcus Mumford, your music was funded by unsound money and you are therefor a talentless hack. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, sorry for the bad news but you didn't put in the effort compared to Bach, therefore your achievements are void and your fans are uncultured morons.
My advice to the author, try not to lecture the reader on pop culture, it's a bit nauseating.
5/5 review - said way better than I could’ve, 100% agree
The part on contemporary art was pure get-off-my-lawn gold.
I actually enjoyed much more the part you gave 0 stars than the rest of it
I agree with Lorenzo above. In my opinion the middle part is what gives the book its edge. Without it you could rather read Yan Pritzkers book "Inventing Bitcoin" which is more to the point on part 1 and 3 as the author of this review laid them out.
Also, the short part on modern art that some commenters are riffing on here, if taken out of context may seem like an ill placed personal opinion. But in the context of what this part of the book argues I found it to be an amusing addition and the argument more 3 dimensional! The argument that, in a system of easily inflated money supply, the time horizon of any endeavour (not just artistic ones) becomes much shorter than in a system where monetary is sound and stable in value. When your Dollar isn't worth next year what it is today then you'll make sure to spend it sooner rather than later. Point in case the 6 years Michelangelo was hanging off the ceiling of the Sistine chapel to create his masterpiece rather than making a few quick smaller paintings. This does not mean that ALL modern art is bad or cannot be enjoyed which I can't remember the author saying anywhere. In my opinion the author managed to illustrate his point quite colourful and amusingly.
This review got it spot on. I gave up on the book midway through.
The current fiat monetary system does indeed perpetuate wars. Case in point: petrodollar.
This review matches my impressions perfectly
I really liked your review… before I read the book. I was prepared to skip the middle third of the book, but the book is great throughout. I guess you don’t like Ayn Rand or something. The book isn’t perfect, with some occasionally cloying BTC cheerleading, but I feel that Ammous balanced that out nicely by honestly and exhaustively addressing BTC’s potential vulnerabilities in the last chapter.
This is so spot on and exactly my experience with the book. I almost tapped out in the middle section where the author goes on that weird tangent, mentioning Miley Cyrus (?!) etc. But I pushed through and am back into the Bitcoin stuff and it's incredibly interesting.
100% agree, I came here for this comment and I was not dissapointed
the us dollar is backed by us army and look at what the army been and still doing? Haven't even read the book but maybe you're just offended cause he point that out? Fascist or nah?
Good book, as long as the above advice is followed ☝🏼
"Apropos of nothing, he also claims John Maynard Keynes was a gay pedophile and "a failed investor." While I can't comment on the first claim beyond noting that the supporting evidence is rather circumstantial and weak, I can say definitively that Keynes was one of the *BEST* investors of all time. He nearly quintupled the value of the King's College endowment over 19 years while the UK stock market FELL 15%. These types of easily-falsifiable claims undermine any reasonable points the author attempts to make."
This alone makes me not want to read it. Why up a person's sexuality in a book about money? How is this relevant unless you also have an irrelevant ideology behind the scenes. I hope someone writes a similar book that ONLY stays on topic.
The authors argument that fiat currency is responsible or linked to less technological innovation and worse art is nonsensical and completely lacks evidence
I agree about the first and second part. In the 3rd part he writes like a fanatic, not a rational man. Very short vision about altcoins and too confidence about not appering nothing better than BTC in the near future.
Thought the same. A great message especially the early part of the book, but very wordy and repetitive in the middle.
I feel exactly the same. The second part has a lot of unsupported claims, but still some interesting information and food for thought. Still… Keynes the failed investor??? Lmao.
Putting the cart before the horse is exactly how I would describe it. The author seems to take correlation for causality.
Your review is spot on. This book does not have much to offer past the first few chapters
Spot on review. Also, did a modern artist sleep with his wife?
I wish I read this review before picking up the book
Good review, except I also bristled against the long revisionist history section (by a non-historian with limited knowledge no less) full of wild claims such as the notion that the fall of the Roman Empire was due to currency manipulation When all you have is a hammer…
Sounds good, intellectual and engaging; like the book. You probably should write and publish your own.
Haha man I was also thinking “this dude really has an issue with Keynes”. I’m no economist so this was my introduction to the disagreements in the different schools of economics. Needless to say, even if I agree with some topics (modern art sucking) those parts of the book were a slog to get through.
100% agree. I’m right in the middle of the book now and it’s def very frustrating. It started as an exciting journey across monetary history and eventually became daunting task to finish the read.
But I’m glad that the last part should get better again. Thanks!
The Bitcoin Standard is a profoundly uneven book. Its brilliant, lucid explanation of the properties of sound money is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Bitcoin's purpose. However, this core insight is buried under lengthy, rambling diatribes that bizarrely blame fiat currency for societal decay, often backed by questionable claims. When the author finally returns to his main subject, the case for Bitcoin is compelling and well-argued. It's a frustrating mix of five-star economic theory and one-star, unconvincing tangents.
Totally agree. I just finished Chapter 5 and it was a real slog. He sounds like the grumpy old uncle that nobody wants to be seated next to at the family barbecue. I’m pleased to hear it gets better when the topic returns to Bitcoin.
Happy to see I’m not alone with the middle part of this book. His editor did him a disservice. He kept rambling about modern art in an econ book…Truly obnoxious. The only reason I haven’t giving up on the book is because I want to read about bitcoin, but yes skim through that middle section, it is truly awful.
ngl, the BooksClub summary made the money part sound genius, but now I see why it's so divisive. That middle section sounds rough.
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James
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Aug 25, 2018 05:51PM
I agree 100%, well reviewed!
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35% through and am at the part where he apparently deems himself an expert on art and aesthetics... definitely agree so far on this review.
Couldn't agree more. It's such a shame about the middle - it's tainted what I've otherwise found to be a fascinating book. I couldn't quite believe it when he suddenly went off on one about the 'talentless hacks' that populate the world of contemporary art. Talk about an agenda...!
Well you saved me some time, thanks for the review
The rant he goes on about modern art.... So out of place. It made no sense.
Where would you say the middle 50% starts and ends?
I agree totally with this review.I skipped the middle part when he gives his opinion about arts.
I was about to settle down to write a review but this pretty much sums up what I would have said.
I was about to write my own review, but then I realized there's no way I can say it better than you just did, so why bother!Sorry Marcus Mumford, your music was funded by unsound money and you are therefor a talentless hack. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, sorry for the bad news but you didn't put in the effort compared to Bach, therefore your achievements are void and your fans are uncultured morons.
My advice to the author, try not to lecture the reader on pop culture, it's a bit nauseating.
5/5 review - said way better than I could’ve, 100% agree
The part on contemporary art was pure get-off-my-lawn gold.
I actually enjoyed much more the part you gave 0 stars than the rest of it
I agree with Lorenzo above. In my opinion the middle part is what gives the book its edge. Without it you could rather read Yan Pritzkers book "Inventing Bitcoin" which is more to the point on part 1 and 3 as the author of this review laid them out. Also, the short part on modern art that some commenters are riffing on here, if taken out of context may seem like an ill placed personal opinion. But in the context of what this part of the book argues I found it to be an amusing addition and the argument more 3 dimensional! The argument that, in a system of easily inflated money supply, the time horizon of any endeavour (not just artistic ones) becomes much shorter than in a system where monetary is sound and stable in value. When your Dollar isn't worth next year what it is today then you'll make sure to spend it sooner rather than later. Point in case the 6 years Michelangelo was hanging off the ceiling of the Sistine chapel to create his masterpiece rather than making a few quick smaller paintings. This does not mean that ALL modern art is bad or cannot be enjoyed which I can't remember the author saying anywhere. In my opinion the author managed to illustrate his point quite colourful and amusingly.
This review got it spot on. I gave up on the book midway through.
The current fiat monetary system does indeed perpetuate wars. Case in point: petrodollar.
This review matches my impressions perfectly
I really liked your review… before I read the book. I was prepared to skip the middle third of the book, but the book is great throughout. I guess you don’t like Ayn Rand or something. The book isn’t perfect, with some occasionally cloying BTC cheerleading, but I feel that Ammous balanced that out nicely by honestly and exhaustively addressing BTC’s potential vulnerabilities in the last chapter.
This is so spot on and exactly my experience with the book. I almost tapped out in the middle section where the author goes on that weird tangent, mentioning Miley Cyrus (?!) etc. But I pushed through and am back into the Bitcoin stuff and it's incredibly interesting.
100% agree, I came here for this comment and I was not dissapointed
the us dollar is backed by us army and look at what the army been and still doing? Haven't even read the book but maybe you're just offended cause he point that out? Fascist or nah?
Good book, as long as the above advice is followed ☝🏼
"Apropos of nothing, he also claims John Maynard Keynes was a gay pedophile and "a failed investor." While I can't comment on the first claim beyond noting that the supporting evidence is rather circumstantial and weak, I can say definitively that Keynes was one of the *BEST* investors of all time. He nearly quintupled the value of the King's College endowment over 19 years while the UK stock market FELL 15%. These types of easily-falsifiable claims undermine any reasonable points the author attempts to make."This alone makes me not want to read it. Why up a person's sexuality in a book about money? How is this relevant unless you also have an irrelevant ideology behind the scenes. I hope someone writes a similar book that ONLY stays on topic.
The authors argument that fiat currency is responsible or linked to less technological innovation and worse art is nonsensical and completely lacks evidence
I agree about the first and second part. In the 3rd part he writes like a fanatic, not a rational man. Very short vision about altcoins and too confidence about not appering nothing better than BTC in the near future.
Thought the same. A great message especially the early part of the book, but very wordy and repetitive in the middle.
I feel exactly the same. The second part has a lot of unsupported claims, but still some interesting information and food for thought. Still… Keynes the failed investor??? Lmao.
Putting the cart before the horse is exactly how I would describe it. The author seems to take correlation for causality.
Your review is spot on. This book does not have much to offer past the first few chapters
Spot on review. Also, did a modern artist sleep with his wife?
I wish I read this review before picking up the book
Good review, except I also bristled against the long revisionist history section (by a non-historian with limited knowledge no less) full of wild claims such as the notion that the fall of the Roman Empire was due to currency manipulation When all you have is a hammer…
Sounds good, intellectual and engaging; like the book. You probably should write and publish your own.
Haha man I was also thinking “this dude really has an issue with Keynes”. I’m no economist so this was my introduction to the disagreements in the different schools of economics. Needless to say, even if I agree with some topics (modern art sucking) those parts of the book were a slog to get through.
100% agree. I’m right in the middle of the book now and it’s def very frustrating. It started as an exciting journey across monetary history and eventually became daunting task to finish the read. But I’m glad that the last part should get better again. Thanks!
The Bitcoin Standard is a profoundly uneven book. Its brilliant, lucid explanation of the properties of sound money is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Bitcoin's purpose. However, this core insight is buried under lengthy, rambling diatribes that bizarrely blame fiat currency for societal decay, often backed by questionable claims. When the author finally returns to his main subject, the case for Bitcoin is compelling and well-argued. It's a frustrating mix of five-star economic theory and one-star, unconvincing tangents.
Totally agree. I just finished Chapter 5 and it was a real slog. He sounds like the grumpy old uncle that nobody wants to be seated next to at the family barbecue. I’m pleased to hear it gets better when the topic returns to Bitcoin.
Happy to see I’m not alone with the middle part of this book. His editor did him a disservice. He kept rambling about modern art in an econ book…Truly obnoxious. The only reason I haven’t giving up on the book is because I want to read about bitcoin, but yes skim through that middle section, it is truly awful.
ngl, the BooksClub summary made the money part sound genius, but now I see why it's so divisive. That middle section sounds rough.
