It is kind of awkward that a business that exists to help you get things done is paid whenever you fail.
Banks, credit card companies, and brokerages all make more money if you make poor financial decisions (fees, interest, and active trading, respectively).
Auto mechanics and car companies make money if your car doesn't work or doesn't last past the warranty period.
Even piano teachers only make money if you continue needing lessons, rather than becoming able to learn on your own.
Hopefully enlightened businesses will follow the model that customer referrals are more scalable than bleeding the money out of any one individual.
Which results in unnecessary procedures, and unnecessary prescriptions.
>Banks, credit card companies, and brokerages all make more money if you make poor financial decisions
Which caused the housing crisis and great recession.
>Auto mechanics and car companies make money if your car doesn't work or doesn't last past the warranty period.
Which results in some of the most untrustworthy salespeople in one of the most untrustworthy industries.
All of those industries are regulated by the government, precisely because the incentives are wrong and it causes people to do more harm than good if left unregulated.
Hackernews is supposed to have smart people, but the pithy nonsense like the parent I’m responding to makes it abundantly clear that that’s not the case.
Blockchains and smart contracts purport to lift of out of these conditions, but, as you point out, this one seems to suffer from the same flaws.
You misspelled "capitalist".
To some, "capitalist" is an attribute of a society that resist state intervention in economic collaboration. It is equal to the phrase "free market" and viewed with great skepticism.
To others, "capitalist" is more tantamount to greed and cronyism; it is understood in a way that's contrary to traditional anarchic theory about the state.
You might detect that I usually find myself in the second category.
Because of this dichotomy, I like to think of the procession of ages of humankind represented by the dawn of the internet being from "statist/industrial" toward "humanitarian/information-driven".
But you can also certainly think of it as being from "capitalist" to "humanitarian" or whatever may go in that second slot, sure.
What type of system do you think cryptocoins facilitate?
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/l-p-d-libertari...
If a doctor's treatment record and long-term ROI follows them around, or if piano students can track their proficiency over time, the market can act on that information. Without it, we're all flying blind so of course we get suckered into bad exchanges.
It also reflects opportunities for stronger regulations... For example, financial advisor were required to act in the best interest of their customers (until Trump repealed Obama's executive order)