This month marks not only the 10-year anniversary of the publication of Satoshi Nakomoto’s now famous white paper, but it also marks a decade since the darkest days of the 2008 financial crisis.
With hindsight, the timing of the release of the bitcoin white paper and launching of the bitcoin network could hardly have been better. Did Satoshi Nakomoto at the time fully grasp the historical significance and unique opportunity presented in autumn 2008 to kickstart a new financial system and motivate people to use a new currency?
It is timely to reflect back on both these events, and how the two have evolved in the years since arguably the greatest global financial shock since the Great Depression.
The Post-Lehman Legacy of Ashes
The 2008 financial crisis reached its nadir with the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, just six weeks before Satoshi Nakamoto published the bitcoin paper.
With the passage of time and post-crisis economic recovery, some may have forgotten just how serious the financial crisis was. In fact, Lehman’s bankruptcy led to such a panic that famed Wall Street wizards like Pimco’s Mohammed El-Erian asked his wife to withdraw cash over the fear that ATMs could stop working.
In the wake of the Lehman cataclysm, a number of initiatives arose that were aimed at preventing another financial crisis. New regulations and capital requirements like the Dodd-Frank Act in the U.S. and the Basel III banking standards were introduced. A second response to the crisis was socio-political, marked by the rise of movements like Occupy Wall Street.
What has been the lasting impact of these regulatory and social initiatives?
From our vantage point today in 2018 we can see that financial institutions like Lehman are not the only things that have been reduced to ashes. Many of the regulatory restrictions on financial institutions introduced post-crisis have been or are in the process of being eroded away, and social movements like Occupy Wall Street have long since fizzled out and faded into memory.
Given the lack of lasting structural and political reform, should we expect another financial crisis? The short answer to this question is an unequivocal yes.
The Next Financial Crisis
The economist Hyman Minsky developed a theoretical framework showing that reoccurring financial crises are an inherent feature of our current financial system. In other words, it is always only a matter of.... See more>>> https://altcointoday.com/the-bitcoin-white-papers-birth-date-should-give-us-all-a-scare/
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