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Dead Letter Office: Even U.S. Government Doesn’t Use the U.S. Postal Service

“How bad is the United States Postal Service? In order to get a straight answer on this, ask the federal government. The federal government uses the Postal Service 2% of the time. Here is an agency that is so utterly incompetent that the United States government will not use it. How’s that for a testimonial? Here is an agency run by the government that the rest of the agencies regard as so utterly unreliable and expensive, that they refuse to use it. The Postal Service has had a monopoly over first-class mail ever since the time of Benjamin Franklin. That is the longest monopoly in American history. Yet it cannot persuade the federal government to use it.” Continue reading →

The Management-free Organization

“Recently I heard that Valve, a highly successful video game company, has four hundred employees and no management structure. According to all reports, they make that model work. I spent a lot of time trying to imagine working for a company with no management. How do they resolve conflicts, set priorities, measure performance, fire laggards, and all the rest? I couldn’t picture it working. Keep in mind that I earn my living by shouting that management is mostly worthless, yet even I couldn’t accept the idea that management is 100% unnecessary. I was skeptical.” Continue reading →

Europe’s new financial transaction tax missing projected revenues

“Tough taxes on financial transactions across Europe have devastated market activity and failed to raise as much as politicians hoped, according to new figures out yesterday. Hungary implemented a 0.1 per cent tax at the start of the year. But it raised less than half the revenue the state had hoped for, bringing in 13bn Hungarian Forints (£36m) in January. France forged ahead on its own, introducing a 0.2 per cent tax on sales of shares of major firms. But that only raised €200m (£169.4m) from August to November, well below to €530m expected. And Italy launched its FTT this month. Figures from TMF Group suggest it has cut trading volumes by 38 per cent already.” Continue reading →

Bank of Cyprus head fired under bailout deal

“The chief executive of the Bank of Cyprus, the island’s biggest lender, has been sacked by the central bank governor as part of an international bailout deal, state media said on Wednesday. Yiannis Kypri was fired on the instructions of the so-called troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported. It said his departure was ordered as part of the restructuring of the Bank of Cyprus under the bailout deal, which involves the bank absorbing the remains of Laiki, the second biggest bank in Cyprus that has been wound down.” Continue reading →

IRS Reneges on Offshore Asset Voluntary Disclosure Deals

“If you took advantage of one of the three amnesty programs and were accepted, the IRS promised only to hit you with the back taxes, various penalties and interest. The good news was that you would escape criminal charges and time in prison. You now have an empty bank account, but at least you also have the peace of mind that the IRS won’t be knocking at your door, right? Wrong. Earlier this month, the IRS sent faxes to tax attorneys across the country telling them that clients who it had previously been accepted in the current voluntary disclosure program, the ‘Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative’ (OVDI) are now mysteriously ‘disqualified.'” Continue reading →

Supreme Court Rules that Citizens Can Hold Federal Government Liable for Abuse by Law Enforcement Officers

“In its ruling in Millbrook v. United States, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that the U.S. government may be held liable for abuses intentionally carried out by law enforcement officers in the course of their employment. Arguments put forward by The Rutherford Institute in its amicus brief urged the Court to enforce the plain meaning of federal statutes allowing citizens to sue the government for injuries intentionally inflicted by law enforcement officers. In striking down lower court rulings, the justices held that the courts had erred in dismissing a prisoner’s lawsuit alleging that three prison guards had brutally and sexually assaulted him.” Continue reading →

Cyprus bank controls to last a month, minister says

“Cyprus conceded on Thursday that tight capital controls would remain in force longer than expected as the island’s banks reopened for the first time after the government was forced to accept a tough EU rescue package to avoid bankruptcy. The government initially said the controls would remain in place for a week, subject to review. Economists say they will prove hard to lift as long as the economy is in crisis. To help the Cyprus banks weather the crisis, the European Central Bank flew in 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in cash overnight from Frankfurt, a German newspaper reported.” Continue reading →

Betray Your Bank Before Your Bank Betrays You

“The way it’s supposed to work at failing banks is that shareholders get wiped out first. Next the losses go up the ladder from junior debt holders to senior bondholders, and then all the way to uninsured depositors, if need be. Taxpayers and insured depositors shouldn’t have to absorb others’ losses or put money at risk to spare them. Troubled banks should have to fend for themselves. This was the approach imposed on Cyprus. In ordinary circumstances, it would be considered fair. The best argument for why it wasn’t is that Cyprus had been lulled into believing it would be treated just as well as Europe’s other bailout recipients.” Continue reading →