Network Archives

Treasury Caught Illegally Spying On Americans’ Financial Records

"The intelligence division at the Treasury Department has repeatedly and systematically violated domestic surveillance laws by snooping on the private financial records of US citizens and companies, according to government sources. Over the past year, at least a dozen employees in another branch of the Treasury Department, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, have warned officials and Congress that US citizens’ and residents’ banking and financial data has been illegally searched and stored. And the breach, some sources said, extended to other intelligence agencies, such as the National Security Agency, whose officers used the Treasury’s intelligence division as an illegal back door to gain access to American citizens’ financial records."

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Trump to courts: Stop opposing my travel ban, because here’s another one

"If the administration succeeds in wiping the record clean, it will need to defend only Trump's latest ban, which followed a three-month review of immigration procedures. Keeping the lower court rulings on the books would give opponents more support for claims that the new ban exceeds the president's authority and discriminates against Muslims. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit had ruled that Trump lacked proof the earlier ban was needed, and the 4th Circuit appeals court said it discriminated based on religion."

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A Bad Supreme Court Term for Originalism?

With the 2017 Supreme Court term underway, it’s time to consider its originalism implications. One might think that originalists would be optimistic with Justice Gorsuch — apparently a strong textualist originalist — joining the Court.  But I suspect that, at least on the headline cases, it will be a bad term for originalism, based on…

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Governments turn tables by suing public records requesters

"Government bodies are increasingly turning the tables on citizens who seek public records that might be embarrassing or legally sensitive. Instead of granting or denying their requests, a growing number of school districts, municipalities and state agencies have filed lawsuits against people making the requests – taxpayers, government watchdogs and journalists who must then pursue the records in court at their own expense."

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Is The Everything Bubble Ready to Pop?

"It wasn’t always this way. We never used to get a giant, speculative bubble every 7–8 years. We really didn’t. In 2000, we had the dot-com bubble. In 2007, we had the housing bubble. In 2017, we have the everything bubble. I did not coin the term 'the everything bubble.' I do not know who did. Apologies (and much respect) to the person I stole it from. Why do we call it the everything bubble? Well, there is a bubble in a bunch of asset classes simultaneously. And the infographic below that my colleagues at Mauldin Economics created paints the picture best. I don’t usually predict downturns, but this time I bet my reputation that a downturn is coming. And soon."

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U.S. household stock wealth at highest level since dotcom bubble

"Currently, according to Ned Davis Research, stocks represent 40% of total household financial assets, much higher than the 28.2% average allocation since 1951. There’s been only one other occasion since 1951 in which stock allocation was higher than it is today — at the top of the late 1990s internet bubble, when it rose to 47.5%. Every other major stock market top of the last seven decades, in contrast, occurred when households’ equity allocation was lower than today’s level. At the 2007 stock market top, for example, the allocation peaked at 37.1%."

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