Krugman's original economic point is not so much that mining is a complete waste, or that it is an environmental disaster (although I think he does believe these things), but rather that mining does nothing to set the upper or lower bound for the price of bitcoins.
This means bitcoins are not a stable store of value compared to other currencies, which makes it difficult to serve a viable replacement, no matter how good a medium of exchange the technology makes it.
People are latching on to the mining issue, and failing to focus on the store of value issue, which is really the big economic challenge for Bitcoin. I think that's the point he's making in this post.
This means bitcoins are not a stable store of value compared to other currencies, which makes it difficult to serve a viable replacement, no matter how good a medium of exchange the technology makes it.
People are latching on to the mining issue, and failing to focus on the store of value issue, which is really the big economic challenge for Bitcoin. I think that's the point he's making in this post.