Saturday, September 08, 2007

A Tribute to the Late Harry Browne

A Tribute to the Late Harry Browne by Ron Paul. Thanks again to TTL for the link.

And in that vein, he also said:
Just imagine: There's a willing seller and a willing buyer. What if they could just - gulp! - do the deal! Just the two of them. Without having to report to anyone. Without having to pay any 3rd party. Without having to prove anyone your not part of a cartel, or privy to "inside information". Without having to become "licensed", fill forms, be over "minimum wage", properly "insured" and following zoning laws.

Last week I contacted a bank I use for savings, and said I wanted a different account, because it gives a higher interest. No problem, except it turns out that per British law every time I make a new account I have to prove my identity and address all over again, despite me having done it before and having had an account with the bank for years. I have to mail them physical evidence of who I am and where I live, despite the fact that all I asked them to do is make a different account and transfer the money to that one. It's friggin' ridic.

I just found out that the account I already have is advertised on their site as having the interest I want, instead of the interest I'm currently getting. (Interest rates have gone up during 2007.) So I have decided I'll call them and say they should raise the interest on the account, otherwise I'll go to the competition. It should be possible, since the same bank did that very thing a couple weeks back, only for my business account.

But all that spying and regulating is evil.

Anyway, talking about Harry Browne, I have added a couple of book recommendations and a paragraph near the bottom of my Money Article.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a relief! That man was giving me nightmares.

Anonymous said...

At least you're European. If you're from a country outside Europe - even if it's a Commonwealth country - you have a hell of a time getting an account in the first place. I don't live there, this happened to a relative of mine.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Aah, bureaucracy.
One of the British Empire's most glorious contributions to civilization, what?