stoweboyd and the /messengers

Jamais Cascio is one of the world's leading futurists, and spared me some time a few weeks ago to talk about money, especially alternative cash.

Some highlights:

• Jamais starts by stating that "All money is a fantasy," and then sets the stage for the problem for local, alternative money: you have to get a critical mass of people to agree in a new fantasy.

• He points out that virtual currency doesn't have to be geographically constrained, and so that groups with shared purposes could in fact have new currencies.

• He hit on cell minutes being used as a virtual currency in Africa, and discusses how it counters potential governmental meddling, like intentional hyperinflation. His point is that these 'practical' currencies are in a sense apolitical. I draw the point that the unbanked are the source of many innovations in the world, right now.

• Eve Online is one of the leading companies in the wounded economy of Iceland, and Jamais points out that their virtual currency has a fairly steady transfer to fiat currency, and it has become a large company in that very damaged market. But the Chinese government recently stepped in to block the conversion of virtual goods to real world goods. This is also where governments step in with gambling, for example: when you convert your chips into cash, they tell the government about your winnings. Jamais points out that this is really where governments start to care: when economies arise.

• I think the question of anonymous money and the roll of cell phones in future money was the a big part of our conversation, and one that we could have spent hours more on.

A far-ranging and engaging discussion with one of the most thoughtful thinkers of our time.

The Future Of Money series is sponsored in part by Neo.org