Dear John: I read you all the time. I appreciate your willingness to see through spin and propaganda and try to present information unapologetically, especially with all the stupid sugar-coating in economic statistics and Fed spin.
I recently read the Dear John column about bitcoin and I have to say that you are someone who I think — if you spent some time understanding it — would see the value.
Forget bitcoin as a currency for a second — wipe that idea out of your brain. The value in bitcoin is the block chain, where information is stored in a public ledger and verified through a distributed confirmation process.
Think about that. Information available in the public domain that is confirmed and agreed upon by millions of computers every 10 minutes. No central authority serving as a go-between. No clearinghouse. That’s why venture capital is all over this.
One day I’ll be able to hold all my assets in the public ledger and be able to move them quickly and effortlessly without a bank, stockbroker or some other toll-taker collecting a vig. A.P.
Dear A.P. I thought about it. Bitcoin is a joke perpetuated on a gullible investing public. Sorry you disagree. I hope you keep reading me.
Dear John: You said “Bitcoins are a fake currency that is nothing more than a confidence scheme. Their only value is that there are a few layers of gullible people who are willing to accept them as some form of payment.”
Oh my, you have a lot to learn. If you wish to educate yourself, I recommend checking out the resources I’ve compiled at bitcoinsig.com. J.L.
Dear J.L. Bitcoins are a fake currency that is nothing more than a confidence scheme. There, I’ve said it again.
But let me add this: All currencies are — in a sense — a confidence game. When you put your assets into the dollar — the US currency — you need confidence that the US government will remain able to back that paper.
This is especially true these days, when no currency is backed by anything other than the faith that a government will make sure the currency doesn’t become worthless. No gold backing. No silver. No diamonds.
Hell, if they’d make the dollar exchangeable into Pop Tarts, at least you’d have something tangible in your cupboard if Washington fails to honor its obligations.
What’s backing bitcoins, except the belief that some almighty Internet power will keep this scam afloat and that foolish companies like Dell Computer — awash in product — will accept this fraudulent “currency” as payment for its unwanted machines?
Are bitcoins as valuable as, say, the Laos kip, with an exchange rate of around 9,000 to the dollar; the Guinea franc, at 5,000 to the dollar; or Paraguay’s guarani, which is exchanged at around 4,600 to one dollar?
They won’t be worth even that much if governments decide to shut down this scam.
But you go right on enjoying bitcoins. To me, this is all reminiscent of the Beanie Baby craze of yesteryear. How sought-after are those Ty Warner dolls these days?
Dear John: I read your advice on the bitcoin question and had to laugh out loud.
Thank you so much for calling all this bitcoin nonsense exactly what it is — a scam.
I wish others in the financial media would have the common decency to do the same. M.F.
Dear M.F. I can see the headlines now: “Washington asked to bail out bitcoin market.”
Dear John: Love your column but I am writing about a recent letter writer that was looking for excellent potato salad.
I don’t know where the writer lives, but my husband is part-owner of an-old fashioned German deli in Levittown, L.I., called Fred’s Deli.
They sell over 600 pounds of potato salad a week made from scratch by their chefs. Everyone raves about it. M.H.
Dear M.H. Sorry, I don’t do product endorsements. But if Fred were to send us a sample, well … But then we’d have to buy hot dogs and a grill and get some beer. Forget it, I don’t do product endorsements.
Dear John: I know your field of expertise is finance, etc., but I figured if a reader could ask you about potato salad, I could ask you about this.
Didn’t the FCC or someone state that within a few years all networks would be required to see that the commercials were no louder than the volume of the TV shows they are sponsoring?
What ever happened to that “legislation?” I’m still frantically grabbing for the remote whenever they come on. L.F.
Dear L.F. Huh! Sorry, I can’t hear you. Let me turn the TV down.
The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act was passed by Congress and went into effect on Dec. 13, 2012.
Under the rule, the average volume of commercials has to be the same as that of the programs they accompany.
So, if TV stations aren’t abiding by the law, yell at them!