Hard Money And The Costs Of War

Can hard money constrain governments' ability to finance unpopular wars?

In this inaugural episode, we explore a provocative thesis: that money which can't be printed at will—whether gold or Bitcoin—creates democratic accountability by forcing governments to fund wars through direct taxation rather than hidden inflation.

We examine the $2.3 trillion cost of the Afghanistan war, current defense spending proposals, and the historical relationship between monetary systems and warfare. From World War I's suspension of the gold standard to Nixon closing the gold window during Vietnam, we trace how the ability to expand money supply has transformed the nature and duration of war itself.

This isn't a simple "Bitcoin good, fiat bad" argument. We explore serious counterarguments: wars happened under gold standards too, hard money creates economic constraints that can cause their own problems, and governments might find workarounds even under a Bitcoin standard.

The question isn't whether hard money is perfect—it's whether the constraint on war-making power is a feature rather than a bug.

Topics discussed:

• The hidden costs of war finance through monetary expansion
• Historical examples: WWI, Vietnam, and the gold standard
• How fiscal illusion obscures the true cost of military spending
• The ethical dimensions of financing war through inflation
• Austrian vs Keynesian perspectives on monetary constraint
• What a Bitcoin standard could mean for government accountability

Mentioned in this episode:

• Brown University's Costs of War Project
• The relationship between Bretton Woods and modern warfare
• Benjamin Anderson's Economics and the Public Welfare