# Gavin Andresen
# 2011-04-06 13:32:16
# https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5422.msg80354#msg80354

Be nice, y'all.  Todd emailed me directly and I steered him here because I don't have time to talk about economic theory with everybody who emails me these days. @p{par}

Todd:  if you were designing a new currency, what would it look like?  Are you imagining a LETS-like system of credit? @p{par}

Bitcoin is designed to be like a scarce natural resource, which is pretty conservative, really@p{--} scarce natural resources have a long history of being used as currency.  I don't know enough about the alternatives to know whether or not they could work as an Internet currency@p{--} the LETS systems I've heard about all rely on local interactions and trust to keep people from cheating. @p{par}

PS: I'm going to move this thread to the Economics forum. @p{brk}