Anyone who comments publicly on economic affairs receives regular correspondence from monetary cranks, who espouse schemes for securing peace and prosperity by reforming the world’s money. Bitcoin, the private cyber currency whose supply is fixed to prevent inflation, is only the latest entrant to a lengthy catalogue. Bitcoin also attracts anarchists and libertarians. The web should be free, they cry, blithely disregarding its dependence on telephone networks funded by middle-aged people in grey suits, servers provided by large corporations and protocols negotiated in international conferences.
但凡就經濟問題公開發表意見之人，總會經常收到貨幣怪才們的來信。他們提倡以一些方案改革當今貨幣，確保和平與繁榮。在長長的提議清單中，比特幣(bitcoin)——一種定量供應以防止通脹的民間網絡虛擬貨幣——不過是最近的一個。比特幣也吸引了無政府主義者和自由論者的注意。他們大聲疾呼，互聯網應當免費，冒失地忽略了互聯網對三個因素的依賴：中年幕后老板們出資建設的電話網絡、大公司提供的服務器，以及通過國際會議敲定的網絡協議。