Complex numbers have a real and an imaginary part. Complex finance leads to people having real and imaginary dollars, and as [livejournal.com profile] metahacker eloquently expresses it, the imaginary dollars are a con game which is running out.
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From: [identity profile] zenten.livejournal.com


I agree with her point, although all dollars are imaginary. Even most of the value of gold is imaginary. This isn't a bad thing.

What she's talking about does seem to be a bad thing though.

From: [identity profile] metahacker.livejournal.com


I'm drawing a distinction between agreed-upon value, which is 'imaginary' the way that laws are 'imaginary'*, and fictitious value, which is even less real than that -- it's invented unilaterally, and its origins are then hidden to make it appear agreed-upon. So I suppose it's a bit like that favorable house rule you made up for your poker game and then claimed you saw on TV's Greatest Stars Embarrass Themselves Playing Poker. Except somehow worth a trillion dollars.

(* they're plenty imaginary, but try breaking a few of the wrong ones...)

From: [identity profile] zenten.livejournal.com


But currency is the same way. I have no idea why a dollar is worth what it is. And I'm not going to have much luck convincing people that it is worth more than everyone says it is.

From: [identity profile] ironphoenix.livejournal.com


Yes, that the agreement on value was founded on false pretenses (and therefore fell apart when reality asserted itself) is indeed a crucial distinction there.
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