Agora I/O Presentation  

The free Agora I/O unconference is wrapping up today, but the talks are now archived for viewing at your leisure. As well as my talk, which feedback indicates was well received, there were other talks that are definitely worth watching.

BTW, this talk was recorded in my kitchen, at the kitchen table where I produce the Shire Silver cards.

Also, if you enjoyed any of the talks, it is suggested that you donate to the speakers using the ChipIn widgets that are listed on the speakers page at http://agora.io/etienne/speakers.

The first one I saw was by Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and it covered a lot of the history that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve. More specifically, he discussed the silver panic of 1893, including the manipulations of the monetary system by the government that caused the problems that needed to be fixed.

The Q&A section at the end was good too. Someone asked about alternative currencies and products like Shire Silver, and he seemed to be very much in favor of them.

Great content and historical analysis. Highly recommended.

Another one that I enjoyed was a talk by Steve Fairfax on his idea for a gold bearing certificate that is very similar to the Shire Silver model.

His point about the inability of monetary systems to converge on just one metal was instructive. His solution to this is to create a currency that is essentially the same idea as Shire Silver's model: embed the precious metal in plastic.

The form that Steve's currency would take is different enough from Shire Silver that I have little doubt that he developed the idea without ever having seen or heard of Shire Silver. I would like to see some in person - it looks interesting and may make a strong competitor to Shire Silver.

The guys at Freedom's Phoenix also talked about their variation on Shire Silver. They took the basic idea of embedding in laminate from Shire Silver but instead of using pure metal, they use pre-64 government coins.

The talk itself was OK, although it seemed to be part of a live radio show and had some technical difficulties. A little light on content and too much banter for my tastes, but their Wallet Voting idea is a good idea for outreach and education.