Are We Rome? Not yet, but We’re Getting There
Hanging out in Rome, surrounded by ruins of all ages, you can’t help but have big thoughts about the state of the world. Here …
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Surveillance Has Changed Us
My passport is festooned with patriotic blather about freedom and democracy. It didn’t used to be this way. The less freedom we have, the …
Snowden’s Flight to Freedom
Dear rest of the world: Please know that it is painful for Americans to see what is happening in the case of Edward Snowden. …
Cryptography and the Money We Use
When NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden wanted to talk to reporter Glenn Greenwald, he insisted that they use encrypted chat. Unfortunately, Greenwald didn’t know how …
Real Markets and Real Economics
I just spoke to a friend, Skinner Layne, who is from Arkansas, but now lives in Santiago, Chile. He emigrated there and is now …
“If They Want to Get You, They Will Get You in Time”
What a weekend it’s been, like watching a global prizefight of epic proportions, with every conceivable side throwing the hardest possible punches. It began …
Ground Zero in Crypto-Commerce
There were no cubicles, no executive suites, and no visible hierarchies of power. It was just a large open room with computers and desks, …
Government Creates a New Criminal Class
Woo-hoo! It is a wonderful thing when the good guys win one for a change. Well, it wasn’t a total win, but it gives …
IRS on the Hot Seat
“I have not done anything wrong,” Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’ nonprofit division, told a congressional hearing. “I have not broken any laws.” …
Should Bitcoin Be Regulated Like Dollars?
The opening talk at the Bitcoin 2013 conference in San Jose was given by the Wilklevoss twins, purported owners of 1% of the world’s …