Suggestions for Greenspan’s Summer Reading By J. Bradley Jansen August 22, 2001 Maybe Alan Greenspan should read Karl Marx. Now that I have your attention, I should explain what I mean. In the middle part of Marx’s second book of Capital, the explanation of the boom and bust cycle could be read as a contemporary […]
AN ALTERNATIVE PRIVACY FRAMEWORK By J. Bradley Jansen July 31, 2001 At a time when we are sorting through billions of privacy notices informing us of our ability to “opt in” or “opt out” of having our information sold or shared by financial institutions, no one seems to be happy with the status quo. Most […]
International Development or Corporate Welfare? By J. Bradley Jansen July 23, 2001 President Bush recently proposed some changes at the World Bank. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have come under severe criticism. There is a broad consensus among conservatives, libertarians and progressives that the system is broken and needs to be fixed. […]
Big Brother’s Money J. Bradley Jansen July 12, 2001 A few years ago, Marvin Goodfriend, a senior Federal Reserve official, proposed a “carry tax” on cash under certain conditions. The idea was to impose a tax on dollar bills using the magnetic strip as a tracking device to tabulate the tax. The suggestion was criticized […]
Americans should demonstrate independence by “opting” for best privacy policy J. Bradley Jansen July 5, 2001 By now, financial institutions have deluged us with billions of privacy notices giving us the ability to “opt out” of the selling and sharing of information. Many commentators have decried the fact that most of us have not acted […]
Happy Birthday, Bastiat! By J. Bradley Jansen June 29, 2001 On June 29th, as we celebrate Claude Frederic Bastiat’s 200th birthday, we are also celebrating economic common sense. Perhaps more than any other economic commentator, Frederic Bastiat was able to reduce economic sophisms to their basic principles and follow them to their logical conclusions. This […]
Civil Asset Theft J. Bradley Jansen June 21, 2001 Civil asset forfeiture is in the news again. The American Civil Liberties Union is running an advertising campaign on the issue. Their ad shows the recognizable “Uncle Sam Wants You” picture with a twist; he’s pointing a gun at us with a caption that reads: “I […]
STATEMENT ON FINANCIAL PRIVACY REGARDING GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT June 20, 2001 We recognize the importance of privacy and are encouraged that many interest groups, politicians and businesses are also working to address this significant issue. Changes in the law, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, as well as changes in regulation and technology mean that privacy will […]
Are Fannie and Freddie really affordable? J. Bradley Jansen June 14, 2001 Congressional attempts to make housing more affordable may be misplaced. According to a recent GSE Report special supplement, “Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s UnAffordable Housing Goals,” the Congress may be squandering resources without really helping prospective homeowners. Trying to help consumers, Congress passed […]
Information Exchange Dangers By J. Bradley Jansen June 7, 2001 The Internal Revenue Service posted a ruling for comment period that could have serious unintended consequences for the United States. Promulgated in the final days of the Clinton Administration, the IRS proposed a rule on the “Guidance on Reporting of Deposit Interest Paid to Nonresident […]