-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.38/pageone.html <A HREF="http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.38/pageone.html">Laissez Faire City Times - Volume 3 Issue 38</A> ----- Laissez Faire City Times September 27, 1999 - Volume 3, Issue 38 Editor & Chief: Emile Zola ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Globalization and Financial Privacy a review by Lauren Bain Richard W. Rahn, The End of Money and the Struggle for Financial Privacy , Discovery Institute, Seattle, 1999, 223 pp. Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, New York, 1999, 394 pp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thomas Friedman�s warmhearted tales and devotion to metaphor narrate the steps to a kinder, gentler global village; but, in fact, his storytelling outclasses his economics. How are we to experience his subjective world�one rife with shallow distinctions between free markets and regulated ones, one in which statist Newt Gingrich could be a free-market icon, one in which we are implored to create world markets and prosperity without perturbing any quaint cultural relics? Friedman acknowledges that globalization is inevitable; further, he tells us that markets are the motive force urging it on at terrible speed. But he also says that governments can and must place conditions on these same forces�or, he declares in another logical switchback�no globalization. Is the Electronic Herd careening out of control, impelling a dynamic world market to redefine life every moment according to subtle dictates of market whims�or can we rein it in, regulate it, assign America to take point, even stop it altogether if Friedman�s sister doesn�t like her Jersey beefsteak tomatoes without cracks and bumps? He knows his Golden Straitjacket will fit every producer nation eventually with a bit of tailoring, but does he really see no difference between the rule of law as it is worn in the United States and as it hangs on Singapore? Friedman loves his planet, and his reader wants to love him for that. But it�s difficult when he transmutes the Invisible Hand to an unseen fist driving a herd of electronic reindeer at warpspeed. He is a Lexus person, thrilled at a global marketplace, and an olive tree person, in love with his community that he maintains no chat room could replace. No, but how does he suppose neighbors mobilize each other when the time comes to petition city hall for that new road? E-mail, of course: the ultimate grassroots weapon. Friedman sees globalization creating a more open society�something of which he evidently approves�but he frets over the lack of privacy that instantaneous electronic commerce portends. Here he demonstrates a lack of knowledge as well as faith in reasoning men�s urges to enhance their privacy. Encryption evidently hasn�t settled into his lexicon. If Friedman�s road sign is "GLOBALIZATION AHEAD: ASSUME CRASH POSITIONS," Richard Rahn�s is "WELCOME TO PRIVACY PLANET. EARN WHAT YOU KEEP, AND KEEP WHAT YOU EARN." The sun shines on Rahn�s world. The baht no longer fakes out the dollar; currency is digitalized and, in fact, is just another product of a free, private-sector market that is unamenable to government regulation. Prosperity has so subsumed the globe that governments have little to do, as borders become less likely to be threatened, and the government has become a very small part of people�s lives. Dr. Rahn loves freedom and Mr. Friedman values safety. But both economists sound the clarion call that globalization is brooking no interference. While Friedman hopes that globalization will result in American-style democratization of finance, technology and information without disrupting cultural elements he believes are necessary for wholesome community, Rahn reasons that governments won�t even get to throw a punch before private currencies, encrypted commerce, and global competition for citizenship itself declare a knock-out in the next round between the public and private sectors. Rahn sees government as intrusive�unless shrunk to fit the requirements of citizens who desire privacy and liberty, while Friedman sees the American government in particular as a benign breakwater restraining the ruthless flux of capitalism. Friedman insists on installing safety nets beneath a high-wire act already in progress, while Rahn realizes that such nets would only burden liberty, privacy, and the relentless motion underway--and anyway, commerce would simply go underground. Rahn is a capitalist: he trusts the urge to prosper. Friedman seemingly regards capitalism as a magnificent wild animal�wonderful, majestic, and inherently dangerous. Echoing Al Gore�s "we are on an irreversible trend toward democracy, but that could change," Friedman suggests conflicting propositions�that globalization is inexorable, but also that if it threatens to drown our olive trees, we can stop it if we want to. Rahn�s response would likely be, "Why would we want to? Unfettered private markets will bring all the sunshine and rain an olive tree could want." Rahn is not dismissive of personal values and sentiments. Inhabiting his footnotes are acutely touching stories, such as one involving a Jewish artist who entrusted his valuables to a Swiss friend who, under penalty of death had his actions been detected, concealed them from the Nazis by wrapping them in oilcloth and burying them beneath his garden. The right to one�s own property without fear of unjust forfeiture is a recurring theme in his Libertarian world view. Law abiding people are entitled to absolute privacy and uncompromised ownership of their property. And to secure these rights, encryption is essential; we need increasingly complex algorithms to do it, and government has no right to the keys. As state-shopping evolves as an option for citizens concerned with guarding their privacy and property, the focus shifts to how governments will compete for citizens in the new marketplace�an idea that would doubtless uproot a lot of Friedman�s olive trees. The Lexus and the Olive Tree is worth its weight in anecdotes about international relations that affect global markets. There�s a bit of whining and pleading to stop and smell the olive blossoms. The End of Money is fearless and fast-lane�a starship owner�s manual that braces the reader for impact with a future that exhorts us ultimately to secure and enjoy the blessings and responsibilities of true freedom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lauren Bain ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is a Seattle-area attorney, Libertarian, and a columnist/book reviewer for the Association of Objectivist Businessmen News. -30- from The Laissez Faire City Times, Vol 3, No 38, September 27, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published by Laissez Faire City Netcasting Group, Inc. Copyright 1998 - Trademark Registered with LFC Public Registrar All Rights Reserved ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. 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