According to Brian Armstrong, there are 4 key variables to consider when the topic is Economic Freedom. Today, I decided to go over each of the four, and approach the intricacies of the sub-variables I'll classify throughout the post.
If this seems like a dull topic to you, maybe you aren't as worried about your economic freedom - or that of your descendants - but I think this is a topic we should be collectively talking about as we're standing at a junction.
It's time for us to think about economic freedom, and to decide which path to take, or we could become Economically bound to a system which isn't meant to serve us collectively... ending up with a dystopic future like in Elysium.
With how government power grew the last couple of years, how economic rivalries erupted throughout the globe, and how crypto and the metaverse became forces to be considered, this topic isn't only pressing to discuss, but vital!
Having that said, let's approach the concept of the 4 Horsemen of Economic Freedom, baptized by yours truly... I think it sounds sick!
The Horseman of Market Freedom:
Market Freedom is a topic we can't evade if we're discussing Economic Freedom.
The economy is the pulse of collective markets and how different markets, technologies, people, organizations and the whole "financial organic" runs through the sluices.
Like blood pumping through the world's veins, the market movements of everything empower our way of life, and the sub-variables I identify here are:
- Trade Freedom;
- Investment Freedom;
- Financial Freedom.
The freedom to transact is the first.
It seems horrible that at this day and age we have a wide number of cases in which people are banned from having this right - and you don't have trade freedom in many parts of the world (looking at certain countries right now).
On the other hand, we should be able to invest in whatever we want, and that right is policed in an even stricter way.
We have countless middlemen leeching out of our investments here, and sometimes - most of the time - even the government takes a sip.
And let's not talk about taxes... those are further down the line.
Finally, financial freedom, the freedom to save enough to pursue our dreams or favorite activities, or to just live without worry, is something we mostly think we have... but we really don't.
One of the examples of how we don't have the freedom to save is inflation, and how it constantly and very destructively whacks away at our savings...
...but this is just an example.
If you stop to think about these three sub-variables, you'll see that this horseman can be put in check with Cryptocurrencies.
Decentralized Crypto presents us with the means to solve most of these problems... it allows us to transact and invest however we see fit, it gives us an escape from middle-men and a way for our savings to stay out of inflation's bite.
We are developing the tools we need to attain bigger Economic Freedom... but will we use these tools or will our overseers order us to drop them at the pyre like heretic contraptions?
The Horseman of Regulatory Efficiency:
Ah, what's there not to like about the inefficient Horseman of Regulatory Efficiency.
Don't you just love the smell of bureaucracy in the morning?
Well, regulatory efficiency is much more than the name initially tells you, as it harbors 3 different sub-categories worthy of consideration and with varying degrees of paperwork, laws, and stature.
- Business Freedom;
- Labor Freedom;
- Monetary Freedom.
Business and Labor Freedom are vital if we want to talk about Economic Emancipation, Freedom, or Liberty.
"Let people work" is a sentence that sums this up pretty nicely, but we all know there are tons of hoops and slavemasters out there that get in the way.
I'm no stranger to stories in which someone wants to work on something, but is denied due to regulatory mishaps, or someone who wants to invest and start a new business but some age-old obsolete inefficient law delays the process until a judge can be called to evaluate the case.
Monetary Freedom though... it's a whole new championship.
Monetary Freedom is a combination of Controls and Stability as they relate to prices. A free economy demands no microeconomic intervention.
This means factors such as, again, inflation or even just price controls are a big no-no for macroeconomic freedom.
If we're thinking about economic freedom, we must think macroeconomically, not microeconomically, and again Crypto is great at this.
Crypto treats every country the same way, the blockchain rules are for cats, dogs, humans, horses, UK, US, China... every person, thing or being operating with Crypto needs to respect the same Economic "laws" or programming, and programmable money gives us the tool to program for Global Economic Freedom
The Horseman of Economic Law:
For the layman, Economic Law, Monetary Law, and Financial Law all sound the same, but you're not the layman, are you?
Joke's aside, we're talking about stuff like this:
- Property Rights;
- Government Integrity;
- Judicial Effectiveness.
The right to property is something that should be considered a human right, and to have people and even countries this day and age who think people shouldn't be able to own their stuff is just mindboggling.
Having said that, property rights are vital for any society with economic freedom, and again the Cryptoverse delivers the solution.
Concepts like Blockchain, Decentralization, and NFTs make property rights easy to maintain and enforce.
But we have Government Integrity and Judicial Effectiveness to contend with, and this is where things get a bit more cloudy.
Although crypto and blockchain get us some ways to influence these factors, they are predictably still a big problem and won't soon be solved.
Judicial Effectiveness is important, and severely lacking in most societies. Postponing and prescribing go hand-to-hand in a worldwide justice system that is slow, bulky, and easy to manipulate.
Government Integrity... well, even on your regular pub, the dumbest of your friends can tell you that this variable... it's a joke!
Things need a big change in this subtopic, but the fat horseman coming up next is probably the issue we'll have the most trouble solving.
The Fat Horseman of Government Size:
Governments are so fat that they are crushing Economic Freedom under their weight.
They burden the economy with their lack of optimization and the huge organism they are, they burden the taxpayers far more than they should if they weren't trying to hold their "fat", and people's fiscal health is by a thread, especially when we are going under the circumstances 2020 and 2021 brought us.
Overall, we should think about these variables:
- Government Spending;
- Tax Burdens;
- Fiscal Health.
These are three factors under this Government Size Horseman we should think about if we aim to achieve Economic Freedom.
We need to improve everyone's fiscal health by relieving people of unneeded taxes due to the inefficiency of the state.
We also need our "rulers" to understand government spending has a huge cost in inflation and by creating the foundations to the next bust by malinvestments ruining the economy and booming the next cycle artificially.
Even Lord Keynes warned us of it by stating that, meh, "in the long run we're all dead".
Pave the Way for Economic Freedom: What Can You Do?
So, what can you do if you want to pave the way for Economic Freedom?
Well, there are some things within your reach:
- Embrace the Crypto Economy;
- Embrace Decentralized Systems and Blockchains;
- Demand for a Lighter Government (Cutting the fat out of the government);
- Opt for politicians who tax less and offer a solid way to make up for that revenue decrease in the short-time (long time the boom in the economy thanks to the tax cuts more than makes up for it).
- Read this post again and think of ways to affect each of these 4 horsemen.
##There's no excuse for them to still be riding us instead of the opposite.##
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it made you think.
We're living in an exciting age, a revolutionary moment in history, and Economic Freedom is within our grasp.
Let's just close our hand and TAKE IT!