Why Debt Can’t Buy More Growth, Featuring Jeff Booth

A conversation with the “Price of Tomorrow” author on the key structural challenge looming over the global economy.

For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, IHeartRadio or RSS.

This episode is sponsored by ErisX, The Stellar Development Foundation and Grayscale Digital Large Cap Investment Fundhttps://grayscale.co/coindesk.

Two powerful and diametrically opposed forces are shaping the economy.

On the one hand is inflationary economic policy, which keeps the price of assets like real estate and stocks rising ever higher, but at the expense of savings as the value of currency depreciates.

On the other is technology-wrought deflation. As technology increases its capacity exponentially, it causes everything it touches to be less expensive.

Jeff Booth is the author of “The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation Is the Key to an Abundant Future.” In this conversation, he and NLW discuss:

How today’s system came to be designed
Why policy makers are terrified of deflation
Why inflationary policy punishes savers and forces them into riskier markets
How policy that prioritizes asset holders over savers has significantly exacerbated inequality
Why each dollar of debt is producing less real economic growth than ever before
Why proposed “solutions” like MMT and UBI paper over the root causes of the problem

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Nathaniel Whittemore

Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.