governments, including central banks, have run the money system so poorly that nongovernmental money might be better, but that is the wrong answer. The only practical right answer is to improve the government-run monetary system.

Case absolutely not made. I don't know that decentralized non-backed currencies are going to work out better or not, but to call improvement of politicians and central banks not only practical, but the only practical approach seems to me more of a stretch than an obvious point at first blush.

Too Much Entrepreneurial Energy Is Wasted Bitcoin is basically idle speculation, but it has inspired a great deal of skilled work.

Seems to ignore a lot of what is revolutionary and innovative with The Protocol while vaguely labeling the innovations as misguided. This is the bleeding edge. We don't know how this will unfold yet, but it is far, far too early to dismiss it with such confidence imo.

Bitcoin is basically idle speculation,

Also, a little unclear if the author is referring to the market of speculators here (which has little to do with the value of BTC as an innovation or solution to anything), or the speculation of developers with their time.

There are a lot of legitimate reasons to be skeptical of BTC, but I see so many articles that oddly fixate on who is using it for what, and dismissing the value based on that. Innefectiveness via guilt by association. Weak.