Paul Krugman critiques official motivations behind government-backed digital currency projects during a debate with Katie Haun.
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Paul Krugman predicts most crypto projects will look like Pets.com by 2033
“My guess is, however, that I think I don't actually believe that we're at the dawn of a new age. I actually believe that we're at the that that most of this 10 years back, 15 years, 15 years from now, it will look a lot like Pets.com.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Krugman: Significant probability Bitcoin's value eventually drops to zero
“Now, I'm not a hundred percent sure of that, but maybe, ah, ah, but I think that there's a certainly a, I would say a quite significant probability that the whole thing just drops to zero, ah, because I have not yet seen any reason why this has to be a valuabl…”
Opinion
Paul Krugman says crypto offers no unique utility over traditional methods
“It's not at all clear even now that there's anything that you can do with crypto that you can't do other ways. But, you know, obviously if something comes along that I, I'm happy to see it, but I don't see it now.”
Opinion
Paul Krugman argues Bitcoin mining energy efficiency gains are self-defeating
“Bitcoin is what people are owning now in large value, and any gains in energy efficiency just gets swallowed up very quickly. You just push further into that margin, and it, ah, it, it's, ah, it's a self-defeating form of progress.”
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Paul Krugman predicts only one or two cryptocurrencies will survive
“There will not be 1600 cryptocurrencies out there. There will be one or two.”
Opinion
Krugman: Crypto uses advanced tech to regress monetary history 300 years
“From the point of view of monetary economists, we're exploiting cutting edge, ah, computer science, ah, to set the clock back 300 years.”