Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street
Cade Metz, WIRED, 18 February 2021
The problem with the modern economy, Byrne says, is that it rests on the whims of our government and our big banks, that each has the power to create money that’s backed by nothing but themselves. Thanks to what’s called fractional reserve banking, a bank can take in $10 in deposits, but then loan out $100. The government can make more dollars at any time, instantly reducing the currency’s value. Eventually, he says, laying down a classic libertarian metaphor, this “magic money tree” will come crashing down.
James J. Angel specializes in the market structure and regulation of global financial markets. He teaches undergraduate, MBA, and executive courses, including Investments and Capital Markets at Georgetown University. ”Dr. Jim” has testified before Congress about issues relating to the design of financial markets. Dr. Jim began his professional career as a rate engineer at Pacific Gas and Electric. Along the way he has also worked at BARRA (later part of Morgan Stanley). He has also served as a Visiting Academic Fellow in residence at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD – now FINRA) and also as a visiting economist at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. He has also been chairman of the Nasdaq Economic Advisory Board, a member of the OTC Bulletin Board Advisory Committee, and has served on the board of directors of the Direct Edge Stock Exchanges (later part of BATS Global Markets). He graduated from the 