#HighPierreInflation = 7.1%
The inflation rate is 7.1% (annualized over 19 months to November 2023 from April 2022) for Canadians using bitcoins to finance consumer purchases vs. 3.8% annualized inflation for those paying with Canadian dollars over the same period.
I coined the term, HighPierreInflation, for the inflation rate for Canadians using bitcoins to pay for goods and services.
HighPierreInflation is my tribute to Pierre Poilievre and his public suggestions that Canadians could hedge against inflation with bitcoin and other crypto currencies:
“digital currencies … giving people an opportunity to protect themselves against inflation” (September 2021)
“the freedom to use other money, such as Bitcoin…Choice and competition can give Canadians better money and… let Canadians opt-out of inflation with the ability to opt-in to crypto currencies.” (March 2022)
Since September 2021 when Poilievre first touted “digital currencies … giving people an opportunity to protect themselves against inflation”, the average annual inflation rate for bitcoin users has been 12.8% (annualized over 26 months to November 2023 from September 2021) vs. 5% annualized inflation for those paying with Canadian dollars over the same period.
Each month, I will update my #HighPierreInflation calculation.
To see how volatile prices have been for Canadians paying in bitcoins, see:
https://rabble.ca/politics/canadian-politics/pierre-poilievres-very-bad-bitcoin-year/
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/01/10/opinion/pierre-poilievre-opts-241-per-cent-inflation
https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2023/03/29/poilievres-over-inflated-bitcoin-promises/382917/
Poilievre has called the Canadian dollar “increasingly worthless”, “inferior” and “ruined”.
https://openparliament.ca/debates/2021/12/10/pierre-poilievre-1/
Starting in 2021, Poilievre popularized the twitter thread #JustinFlation for the inflation rate reported each month by Statistics Canada.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-poilievre-inflation-trudeau-otoole-1.6270278
The good news for Poilievre is that inflation for Canadian bitcoin users never reached the 50% per month threshold that Professor Phillip Cagan defined as hyperinflation.
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/02/12/the-roots-of-hyperinflation
The bad news for Poilievre is that monthly inflation for Canadian bitcoin users was 30% in May 2022 followed by 31% in June 2022. Hence, my definition of HighPierreInflation: “consecutive monthly inflation rates of 30% or more”.
For any Poilievre followers who waited 7 months after Poilievre’s 28th March 2022 crypto event to start using bitcoins to make all their payments, annual inflation from November 2022 to November 2023 was -51%. In other words, dedicated payers-with-bitcoin experienced deflation -- falling prices for goods and services -- over the 12 months to November 2023. This compares with 3.1% #JustinFlation over the same period.
Poilievre disciples who immediately implemented his 28th March 2022 suggestion to “opt-out of inflation with the ability to opt-in to crypto currencies” suffered 127% inflation of prices in bitcoin terms over the 7 months from April 2022 to November 2022 as the market value of bitcoin plummeted. In other words, prices measured in bitcoins more than doubled in the first 7 months after Poilievre bought a shawarma with bitcoin saying: “opt-out of inflation with … crypto”.
The combination of 127% inflation for bitcoin payers over 7 months from April 2022 to November 2022 followed by -51% annual deflation over 12 months to November 2023 resulted in 7.1% annualized inflation over the year and a half since Poilievre issued his call to “opt-out of inflation with the ability to opt-in to crypto currencies”.
Poilievre’s brain must have been broken when he embarked on his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad crypto adventure. And, Poilievre’s leadership campaign staffers lacked the wisdom, courage and influence to dissuade him from attaching the Conservative Party brand to crypto.
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