What Do Economists Get Wrong About Bitcoin with Josh Hendrickson - WBD606

Dr. Josh Hendrickson is an associate professor of economics and
chair of the Economics Department at the University of
Mississippi. In this interview, we discuss how Bitcoin has
influenced his economic teaching, the importance of Bitcoin in
the current unprecedented global debt bubble, and why people
continue to dismiss Bitcoin.


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“Bitcoin and the entire process that led up to it was motivated
by the desire to make the world a better place and internet
commerce more private. It was a true technological innovation.
The market will decide what that innovation is worth.” We’re used
to hearing such statements from ardent Bitcoiners. But this
statement was made by Dr Josh Hendrickson, an economics professor
who chairs a University Economics Department at one of the US’s
top public universities.


Bitcoin is still dismissed by a significant number of well-placed
people within society. We hear from many people who are
passionate about Bitcoin but feel unable to discuss this within
their work networks for fear of ridicule that could harm their
career paths. This is why having esteemed individuals from
traditional academic backgrounds advocating for Bitcoin is so
critical.


A professorship is a hard-won title. It takes years of graft. The
history of academia is littered with stories of people being
ostracised for taking left-field positions. Therefore, academics,
particularly professors and department chairs, are not ones for
throwing weight behind ideas that are not inherently sound or
principled. So, as with the growing list of people BPI has been
attracting, these academics provide the solid rationalisation of
Bitcoin’s thesis.


This is not to state that there is a consensus within these
groups regarding Bitcoin’s path over the coming years and
decades. We live in tumultuous times. The world’s economic and
political landscape is at the mercy of an almost limitless number
of changing variables. But, there is a growing consensus that
Bitcoin is a unique innovation, a new form of money with the
potential to protect those who need it most. All other debates to
justify Bitcoin should fall by the wayside.