CryptoCurrencies
Presenter: Dr. Peter McAllister
Download PDF: Is Cryptocurrency Money?
Director Haist convened the meeting shortly after 2:00. The topic for the meeting was cryptocurrencies, a topic recommended by the presenter, Dr. Peter McAllister and enthusiastically approved by the Board.
Dr. McAllister received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in Economics and Education. He served Citigroup for twenty-seven years as an executive, setting up and managing the corporation’s use of artificial intelligence and statistical analysis across its units. He retired from Citigroup and for eleven more years taught high school mathematics and social studies on Long Island. He is now retired in Hilton Head, where he has been a popular presenter for OLLI. This is his second presentation before us, the first having occurred two years ago on the topic of “Natural Law vs. Positive Law: Education in the Balance.”
In the absence of a meeting secretary and with the aid of AI, Paul Weismantel generated the following outline of Dr. McAllister’s talking points, which he modified only slightly. The talk proceeded as follows:
1. It began by establishing what money fundamentally is
2. It introduced cryptocurrency and blockchain concepts
3. A direct comparison was drawn between crypto and traditional currency
4. A discussion followed concerning how the philosophical debate around what gives money value touches upon the deepest questions in philosophy.
5. Finally, criticisms and real-world issues with cryptocurrency were examined.
Dr. McAllister pointed out the ethical issues that result from cryptocurrencies lacking any backing and the fraud of inflating the market and selling high, thus leaving investors with worthless assets (“pump and dump”). Cryptocurrencies offer a hedge against inflation, as do gold and silver, etc. But transactions are private and anonymous, and lack of regulation raises concerns over trust.
In the brief time remaining after the talk, questions and comments focused mainly on these points.
Download a PDF of Dr. McAllister’s slides for further information about cryptocurrencies.