[91559] in Cypherpunks
Re: Cato forum tomorrow: should money laundering be a crime?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steve Schear)
Mon Dec 8 00:07:35 1997
In-Reply-To: <199712072343.PAA22192@sirius.infonex.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 20:38:10 -0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Steve Schear <schear@lvdi.net>
Reply-To: Steve Schear <schear@lvdi.net>
At 3:43 PM -0800 12/7/1997, Mix wrote:
>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Hash: SHA1
>
>Steve Schear wrote:
>>This topic, of course, is near the top of many libertarian e-commerce=20
>>agendas. Almost every mainstream news article and regulatory report=
repeats=20
>>the littany that Money Laundering, that is the movement of money to=
disguise=20
>>it origin (even if there are no predicate offenses) must remain illegal=20
>>because it damages or is a threat to the world banking and financial=
system=20
>>(not just the tax take of governments), but I have yet to see any=20
>>explanation of how and why. Anyone care to comment?
>
>Might be a bit of a stretch, but I think this is because money today is=20
>inherently a liability, that is a debt that someone, somewhere has promised=
=20
>to pay back.
You've got this all backwards. The bearer certificates (paper money) issued=
by governments is an interest-free loan by those holding the paper to the i=
ssuer.
=20
>A money's value is measured by the quality of debt backing it. If the debt=
=20
>is defaulted on (whether through obscurity, Chapter 11, etcetera), the=
money=20
>loses value, which in turn can have negative systemic repercussions=20
>throughout the world's financial markets. The recent Asian currency=20
>devaluations (South Korea in particular) and the accompanying financial=
woes=20
>are a good example of what happens when the debt quality of money devalues.
Most of this bad debt is from unwise or even illegal speculation. I propose=
that it is much more common for those who deal in money from anonymous=
sources to look to placing that money into mainstream operating businesses=
and investments than as assests to back fraudulent loans, although this=
certainly does happen (perhaps some of the bad debt held by Japanese banks=
to alledged Yakusa might fall in this latter category.
--Steve
PGP mail preferred, see http://www.pgp.com and
http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html
RSA fingerprint: FE90 1A95 9DEA 8D61 812E CCA9 A44A FBA9
RSA key: http://keys.pgp.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=3Dindex&search=3D0x55C78B0D
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Schear | tel: (702) 658-2654
CEO | fax: (702) 658-2673
=46irst ECache Corporation |
7075 West Gowan Road |
Suite 2148 |
Las Vegas, NV 89129 | Internet: schear@lvdi.net
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I know not what course others may take; but as for me,=20
give me ECache or give me debt!
"It's your Cache=81"
