Renowned entrepreneur and author Jeff Boothhas endorsed Bitcoin as a ‘“must have” investment in times when central banks are exacerbating the escalating debt problem.
The comments came in a tweet thread discussing the notion that central banks believe they can somehow escape a massive debt problem by exponentially adding more debt.
Author of The Price of Tomorrow, a book about deflation, Jeff Booth pointed out that even before the COVID-19 pandemic threw fuel to the fire, global debt was $250 trillion in a global economy worth around $88 trillion — with $185 trillion of that total debt added in the last 20 years. According to usdebtclock.org, the United States tops the list for national debt with over 10% of the global total, and an ever ballooning figure of $26.7 trillion
“The unwind in whatever form it takes is going to be brutal,” he predicted. Booth believes the only two choices left are grim with the first being governmental default on global debt through a deflationary depression, which would include a banking system collapse, or default through hyperinflation, which appears to be starting already with mass money printing.
Continuing this narrative, Booth added:
“In my humble opinion — Bitcoin is a ‘must.‘ Not just for your wealth but as a lifeboat.”
The comments come in an inflationary environment. In late August, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that the central bank would no longer treat inflation as a primary threat to economic growth.
On Wednesday, he revealed the Fed brass had decided that short-term interest rates would remain targeted at 0%–0.25% for years to come while inflation may be allowed to exceed its 2% threshold if deemed necessary.
The Fed, like most central banks, remains free to change the goalposts regarding what they consider to be acceptable and unacceptable rates of inflation. This includes the ability to print trillions of dollars in the name of stimulus measures. Governments essentially need to debase their currencies in order to erode the debt mountain they have created.
Jeff Booth is one of many Bitcoin proponents calling attention to the current banking issues, which appear to echo what happened in 2008. His book The Price of Tomorrow is a stark warning about two dangerous economic trends which, in his opinion, are largely being ignored. It asserts that technology and price deflation will cause lasting widespread unemployment, while the global economy is underpinned by an unstable mountain of debt. With that in mind, Bitcoin may be one of the few remaining “lifeboats” available.