Attention Economy


Friday, March 10, 2017

Is There a Bitcoin Bubble?

Is the boom of bitcoin a bubble that’s about to burst? BY VIKRAM MANSHARAMANI
MANSHARAMANI notes:
“Most mainstream economic theories utilize a supply and demand driven price determination model that generally results in prices tending toward equilibrium. I say “tending” because most serious scholars admit that behavioral and informational issues can distort the price at any one point in time, but there exists an overarching belief that such distortions are rapidly ironed out. Markets are, according to this view, basically efficient. Higher prices dampen demand, and lower prices disincentivize supply.
But what if that’s not true? What if higher prices increase demand? Such a dynamic might arise for many reasons, but one eloquent explanation is the “Theory of Reflexivity,” as proposed by George Soros. Although it has many subtleties beyond the “self-fulfilling” logic that many ascribe to it, the underlying implication is that prices can and do tend away from equilibrium. The result: booms and busts.”

UPDATE: