I had a hypothetical conversation with ChatGPT a few months ago that got me thinking about this subject.

    Rather than backing money by fiat or commodities, let it be backed by the abstract concept of "time."

    The idea is that the average human lifespan is ~79 years. For every person born, 79 "time dollars" are minted.

    I'm not an economist, I'm an engineer. But from my point of view, it's inflation proof (unless of course countries falsify their birth rates) because more time cannot be created. It's also finite in the short-term, yet infinite in the long-term.

    Of course there are edge cases to consider such as paying essential workers such as doctors and on the flip-side sanitation workers, grocery store workers, and people society takes for granted, yet keep society ticking (pun not intended). I feel like it could level the playing field in a way.

    I dunno, just some random theory I have about how to fix this world that thinks pegging paper with dead people on it to God and/or shiney objects and borrowing from future generations could be fixed.

    I'd love to get thoughts on this idea that'll probably never happen in our lifetime unfortunately (or fortunately if my rambling theory is asinine).

    What would be the effects of using time as a unit of currency?
    byu/churning_medic inAskEconomics



    Posted by churning_medic

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