The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking

by Saifedean Ammous

It is not possible to estimate with any degree of accuracy what percentage of the economic activity in the modern world economy goes toward pursuing government-printed money rather than the production of goods and services useful to society, but it is possible to get an idea by looking at which firms and sectors survive because of succeeding in the test of the free market, and which are only alive thanks to government largesse—be it fiscal or monetary. Fiscal support is the more straightforward of zombie-creation methods to detect. Any firms that receive direct government support, and the vast majority of firms that are alive thanks to selling their products to the public sector, are effectively zombies. Had these firms been productive to society, free individuals would have willingly parted with their money to pay for their products. That they cannot survive on voluntary payments shows that these firms are a burden and not a productive asset for society.