Many commentators have been predicting the death of the euro since the Eurozone crisis started over three years ago. But many commentators have underestimated the ability of the Eurozone to plod along and kick the problem into the future. The Eurozone is beset by problems, but politicians are playing for time - they are nursing weak economies (and their banks) along in the hope that economic growth will return, that asset prices will recover, and that economies will miraculously recover their former vim. How long can they do this for? Maybe a decade or more. However, if the PIIGS are still weak in several years time, the euro could well come to an end. Click here to read Barry Eichengreen's recent op-ed on the future of the Eurozone.
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.