Data is Like Physical Property

Gold has been the standard for monetary value for millennia. Ever since humanity realized it likes shiny rocks (relax, I know it’s a metal) gold has been highly desired and sought after. More than a few people have been killed because they had it and someone else wanted it. In one of the more distressing attempts to get out of the Great Depression FDR actually ordered the confiscation of privately held gold, sending agents to people’s homes and offering them the ‘fair compensation’ of fiat currency.  Interestingly, it doesn’t even change value much. An ounce of gold today can buy pretty much what an ounce of gold could buy fifty years ago. However, it has a much larger dollar value attached. What that tells you is that one green piece of paper is worth a whole lot less than it was fifty years ago.  There are of course things more valuable than gold. Platinum is a precious metal that is rarer and more valuable as a rule. Bitcoin is argued by many to be more valuable than gold, at least in the mod