Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek elaborates that the dispute in economics is not whether planning is to be done or not, but rather “as to whether planning is to be done centrally, by one authority for the whole economic system, or is to be divided among many individuals.”

Hayek continues on that a third alternative lingers in which decision making rests on a centrally planned collection of organized industries, or in the terms of the blockchain, developers.

Hayek then goes on to label the collection of centrally planned decision makers (devs) as bearing close resemblance to the economic systems of state control, which at their bare minimum resembles central planning.

We know that both Bitcoin and Ethereum have some centralized repositories where development has taken place. We know devs can fork code and create competing factions unapproved by original maintainers.

Likewise, we know typical change in the code is approved by the maintainers of the respective repositories. These changes are reviewed by, approved by, and merged by a collection of organized developers

Of course miners must sign off on these changes. If a portion signs off and others do not then we are led to forks that we see occur. All of this leading back to the original set up in governance that was established.

Now enter Decred , an economically driven SOV which at its core is more “what it will become, rather than what it is today” as its governing design is spread amongst a plethora of ticket holders who decide its direction.

The entirety of the Decred sub-economic system rests in that its own hierarchy is spread across the board to the opted in ticket holders. Power to the people, by the people.

From what I have garnered, and through my 3 years to date existence within the blockchain world, Decred uses this Hayek philosophy in paramount measures to aptly define itself as an ‘Austrian School of Economics’ project to its core.

As sub economies are formed throughout the upcoming decades of shifting of societal, economic, and financial worlds, the paramount criteria that we should continue to pay attention to include:

Their encompassing narrative

Their ability to adapt

A sound foundation in Austrian Econ thought

It should be noted that this does not make Decred “better” than a Bitcoin or an Ethereum. Each is a protocol unto itself. It does however knit Decred more closely within the bosom of Austrian economics philosophy and the school of thought that encompasses it.

Disclaimer: The preceding is not intended as investment advice but rather blockchain philosophy and monetary theory.

This article is open source, uncopyrighted, free to use for public domain as anyone may see fit. Attribution, although appreciated, is not required.