no third solution » Property Rights
The Bizarro World of Banking
Q: Under what circumstances is it a “problem” when the people who have given you their property for safekeeping demand the immediate return of their property? A: It is a problem if and only if the safekeeper has neglected his duty to his customers, and made use or otherwise disposed of their property for his own private gain. Welcome to the Bizarro World of modern banking. We faced the very real problem of how banks could stop depositors from withdrawing their money — a Treasury source, according to the Daily Mail. Let’s put this in perspective: the bankers with whom individual depositors entrusted their hard-earned money, primarily for safekeeping (but also to facilitate exchange through clearing processes, etc.) have admitted what was already known to anyone who could overcome decades of propaganda to the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Monetary Policy, Property Rights
Careful What You Wish For
Almost four years ago, I noted that a Michigan law, the effect of which was to essentially ban mail-order wine to in-state residents from out-of-state vendors, had been struck down. The special interests were, of course, Michigan’s vinyards — heaven forbid they have to compete with California, and Michigan’s alcohol distributors — heaven forbid someone challenge their brontosaur of a business model. All was well and good, apparently, until yesterday, when in the interest of preserving “fairness”, the Governor signed House Bill 6644, which by amending Section 436.1203 of Public Act 58 of 1998 [P]prohibits stores from sending wine directly to customers. The wine law comes after a federal court ruling saying Michigan’s old law was unfair to out-of-state stores. The law was, as are most laws governing commerce between “free” individuals, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Legalese, Michigan, Property Rights, Subsidize This!
Can I Raffle My House?
I’ve heard about people trying to raffle their houses, and a Google search returns a number of relevant stories, including this story from Michigan. The idea is that the homeowner has been unable to sell the property after many, many months on the market. The homeowner then has a novel idea: offer the house as the prize for a lottery/raffle drawing. In most stories, tickets for the raffle sell for $100. These are not especially bad odds, compared to many of the lottery scams offered by your State lottery. Your odds of winning a $250k house are about 1 in 2500. Not too shabby. Has anyone successfully bought (or sold) a house this way? This is a very interesting scenario, from a Real Estate perspective. Do the potential “buyers” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Legalese, Michigan, Property Rights