They finally got one right…..

[Guest guest]

They finally got one right…..

_http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/they-finally-got-one-right/_

(http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/they-finally-got-one-right/)

by Simon Black

December 17, 2010

Earlier this week, the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals (one step below the

Supreme Court) made an important ruling that should please anyone who

longs for freedom.

In US vs. Warshak, the court ruled that government agents must obtain a

warrant in order to compel Internet service providers to turn over customer

email accounts.

Anyone who has ever read the Fourth Amendment and has been asleep for the

last 10-years might be wondering why this is even news… but given the

landslide loss of privacy in recent years, it’s noteworthy when the rights of

the people are held up over authoritarianism.

In its 14 December decision, the court wrote that **email requires strong

protection under the Fourth Amendment; otherwise, the Fourth Amendment

would prove an ineffective guardian of private communication, an essential

purpose it has long been recognized to serve.**

Granted, government agencies may contest the ruling as it conflicts with

other laws like the Stored Communications Act; also, the ruling will not

affect continued monitoring, interception and wiretapping that is used for

intelligence purposes rather than courtroom evidence.

Regardless, this is still a blow to government agents that use the

Constitution as a punch line around the office water cooler.

On that note, one of the questions we received recently was from reader

LK, who asked, **Simon, you routinely write about how freedom is on the slide

in the west. I agree… but if things are bad in Canada, America and

Britain, aren’t they even worse in Latin America?**

No… but to be fair, you cannot lump an entire region together.

I’ve found that there are plenty of places in the world where you can live

your life with minimal government influence. Look at smaller countries

that don’t have enormous nanny governments capable of sponsoring bloated

police agencies and Internet monitoring.

You mention Latin America– Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay are excellent

places to start.

Next, Jeff asks, **Simon- Ben Bernanke was interviewed on 60 Minutes some

days ago and it caused quite a stir across the contrarian blogosphere. I

was surprised that you didn’t comment– did you happen to see it? What did

you think about Chairman Bernanke’s remarks?**

These interviews are pointless to watch, though it did cause quite a stir.

I frankly got a bit sick of how writers picked apart the interview and

focused on things like Bernanke’s *pulsating forehead vein* or his stammering

speech.

The guy has a pulsating vein in his forehead, big deal… and he always

stammers when he speaks– Bernanke doesn’t exactly strike me as a strong,

confident man. Maybe he’s lying, or maybe he truly believes what he’s

saying…

either way, talk is cheap.

What really matters is the man’s long-term behavior; and consistent with

someone who has no experience outside of government and academia, his

continued QE efforts demonstrate a lack of awareness for how funny money fuels

prices in the real world, especially commodities and in developing nations.

To me, the most notable comment from the interview was his remark about

housing in the US; he suggested that housing couldn’t possibly get any worse.

I disagree… consider the facts:

1) Home sales are terribly weak, even while interest rates are at historic

lows;

2) interest rates may remain flat for some time, but eventually they’ll

rise… and rising rates are bad news for home prices;

3) demand remains weak, consistent with unemployment;

4) banks aren’t lending, especially jumbo loans, etc.;

5) waves of foreclosures have yet to hit the market;

6) bankrupt local governments have their eyes on higher property taxes,

which are not favorable for home values;

7) foreigners, who would otherwise gladly mop up excess US housing

inventory on the cheap, are treated like criminal terrorist scum when they

enter

the country… as such, demand from non-residents is anemic at best.

These are just a few of the factors that weigh on the US housing market.

Unless you’re staying put in the US for a very, very long time, your money

is better allocated elsewhere.

Last, n asks, **Simon, I’m planning a trip to Dubai next year and was

wondering whether it would be a good idea to open a bank account there. Is

it true that this is only possible for residents, or can anybody open an

account?**

The UAE is a fairly strong banking jurisdiction because of its incredible

wealth and independence. The first thing you should know is that all of the

Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Sharjah, etc.) fall under the same

federal level banking regulator– Central Bank of the UAE.

The Central Bank does -not- require bank customers be residents of the

UAE, so it is up to the individual bank whether they will accept non-resident

customers. In my experience there, many banks are happy to accept

non-resident foreign customers… including US citizens.

Another thing you should know about the UAE is that there is no deposit

insurance. This requires that customers do their own due diligence on a bank

rather than mindlessly rely on some bureaucrat’s insipid guarantee that’s

backed by debt and worthless paper.

Islamic banks tend to have stronger balance sheets than standard

commercial banks since Sharia law has rules against excessive reserves and

money

creation.

Finally, you should know that *survivorship* is not a recognized legal

principle in the UAE… so in order to avoid having your heirs deal with

Emirati

probate court, it’s best to have an estate plan worked out in advance.

This is a smart thing to do regardless of where you bank, and one of the

best things you could ever do for your estate is to establish a foreign

trust. More on that in future letters.

Related Articles:

_Young people: get ready to grab your ankles_

(http://www.sovereignman.com/?p=3474)

_Chilean VUL Life Insurance_ (http://www.sovereignman.com/?p=3462)

_Are they spying on you?_ (http://www.sovereignman.com/?p=3451)

_This is definitely worth 4-minutes of your time_

(http://www.sovereignman.com/?p=3445)