Economic Policy

The following is a review of Discovery Institute Fellow Richard Rahn’s book, “The End of Money: And the Struggle for Financial Privacy”, written by William H. Peterson and published in The Washington Times. In 1976 economist Richard Rahn was struck by a radical idea in a new book by F.A. Hayek, the Nobel laureate in economics. The book was, “The Denationalization of Money.” In it, Hayek held that government monopolization of money was neither necessary nor desirable, that politicians had thus the means to press central banks to cheapen money and cut interest rates, especially before national elections. The aim: Create a boom that would sweep incumbent politicians back into power. The catch: Booms lead to recessions, or an inflationary Read More ›

What cause unites Christian conservatives, free-trade Democrats, small-business people, the American Civil Liberties Union and tax reformers? Financial freedom and privacy. The cause is being advanced in a series of legislative battles against big-government activists from both parties over the issues of encryption restrictions, asset forfeiture and, of most immediate concern, requirements that banks serve as agents of the state by monitoring the activities of their customers. The cornerstone of this last activity is the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. The BSA is, in fact, an antisecrecy act, because it requires bankers to spy on their customers by monitoring accounts for “suspicious activities.” Bankers who fail to comply with this requirement are subject to prosecution and fines. Since Congress enacted Read More ›