Daily Archives: April 7, 2013

Lessig on reclaiming the Republic

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Great, impassioned, supremely lucid lecture. His book — Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It is terrific also.

The title of the book picks up on a famous story about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which gave birth to the United States. At the close of the Convention a lady asked Benjamin Franklin “Well Doctor what have we got, a republic or a monarchy.” Franklin replied, “A republic . . . if you can keep it.” Larry’s point is that the citizens of the new republic couldn’t keep it, and the reason they lost it was because the intrusion into electoral politics eventually became pathological.

All bit, no coin

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This morning’s Observer column.

Among the many unpleasant discoveries made by those who stashed their cash in Cypriot banks is that the island’s government could stop them moving their money elsewhere. Capital controls are supposed to be a thing of the past, a figment of the pre-globalised world. But it turns out that when banks are threatened, the gloves come off.

One of the side-effects of this rude awakening seems to have been a surge of interest in a virtual currency called Bitcoin. At any rate, the price of a single Bitcoin reached $147 at one point last week…