Wednesday 25 July 2018

HourCoin - a crypto currency for Agorists and Libertarians...

Hour-coin.

Imagine a currency you issue yourself (as does everyone else), secured against your own future labour, quite simply secured on the basis that you trade your time for other peoples time.

On occasion you have free time you have no immediate use for, so convert it into tradable currency that you can use to buy other peoples time with in future... you need work done but dont have the time/capacity to do it? Pay others to do it with coins you mint, backed by the promise you'll return the effort in the future.

Babysit today, have your garden cleared tomorrow (or vica versa)  - look after an elderly neighbour today, use the tokens to pay to be looked after when you need it. 

Creating a crypto-currency has long been on my list of needs - each coin fundamentally secured against an hour of unskilled labour by the person who minted it. Tradable IOUs, time offsetting between when you have time available and when you don't. And trading unskilled, different skilled and multi-skilled time for your own.

Mint coins by promising to give your time, cancel coins by delivering on the promise, trade coins freely in the mean time.

I just discovered how easy it is to create crypto tokens - compatible with standard crypto wallets. So could do this tomorrow... but it needs a critical mass of initial participants to get going... anyone interested in looking to get on baoard?

Tuesday 17 July 2018

The clock is ticking, business needs a solid option to prepare for #Brexit

There is only one guarenteed option, UK needs to chose it and let business prepare.

We have about 8 months to #Brexit. Companies have little time to prepare for any change.

This means business demands either *no change* or we need to switch to something already available off the shelf (maybe with a few simple additions) with as much notice as possible.

To be able to continue as 'No Change' will be at the whim of the EU - we cannot force  them to continue -- and the price, if they are willing to continue, is likely to be massive.

So we really need to look at off the shelf solutions that can be implemented without active EU cooperation. The obvious solution is a no-deal, WTO #Brexit. Many UK companies who import/export will already be using suitable systems for trading under WTO rules - to add a new WTO country (rump EU) or maybe setting up each member state as a new country, to such systems should be very straight forward - for those who don't already have such systems they are freely available off the shelf.

These are the only options that can be implemented in time - and it is only the second that the UK can be sure to have available for business.

With new tariff levels with the EU, adjustments to UKs WTO tariff levels may be required, but these would (of course) be for all WTO, Most Favoured Nation partners.

Once out of the EU on WTO terms, with WTO based systems, any new trade deal can be incorporated under 'business as usual' for all trading companies.

The clock is ticking - the sooner this can be announced the better.

NB: My skills are processes and re-engineering systems, not international trade -- but I have read that the Treaty of Vienna (on treaties) and WTO could give us a ten year grace period with the EU continuing on zero tarriffs. This wouldn't change the process of no-deal, but would make transfer to standard tarrifs a more relaxed process.