Re: ASAP letter on e-cash

[jya@pipeline.com (John Young)]

   Forbes, ASAP, October 7, 1996, p. 18. 
 
 
   Bankrupt the Bureaucrats! 
 
 
   Eugene Ludwig's principal concern ["The Money Changers," 
   August 26] is not counterfeiting, theft, or fraud: Those 
   crimes have victims, and regulators are never concerned 
   with victim crimes. 
 
   As comptroller of currency, he is worried sick about tax 
   evasion (i.e., avoidance) and money laundering because he 
   knows that technology like Chaum's Ecash could put him 
   and his entire bureaucracy out of their cushy jobs, 
   regardless of the actions of the executive branch or 
   Congress. 
 
   Counterfeiting a $100 bill, even one of the new ones, is 
   easier than counterfeiting one of David Chaum's Ecash 
   payments, and the previous level of government "concern" 
   regarding offshore counterfeiting of $100 bills is 
   instructive here (they let it go on for years!!). 
 
   Some in government have gotten a clue by osmosis, such as 
   Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), but the damage is already 
   done. My solution: Vote Libertarian! 
 
   Jim Ray 
   liberty@gate.net 
   [Right E-steamed Cypherpunk]