Ever been suspicious of the run-up in prices of Impressionist paintings by the Japanese a few years ago? Give someone an inexpensive painting (or have them buy it), and then buy it at an inflated rate from them, at auction.
Eric
Not only that, but paintings were a favored way to transport large amounts of cash in a compact form across U.S. borders. From the article I read about 2 years ago, in "ArtWeek" or somesuch (I don't normally read it...I just saw the story mentioned on the cover, in connection with why so much art is being stolen, used as collateral, moved around, etc.), art does *not* have to be declared at Customs at the U.S. border, either coming or going. So, a Columbian cartel member wishing to move $10M into or out of the U.S. can carry Picasso's famous "Young Girl Encrypting a File" in his luggage and not have to worry. The same article mentioned that bribes were often paid to people by selling them artworks at "artificially low" prices. (The notion that there is some "true" or "market" price for thinly-traded things like paintings is at issue here. Many opportunities for tax evasion, money laundering, and bribes. And not much the government can do about it.) Ironically, I saw Peter Wayner's article in "RISKS" a few days ago and was preparing e-mail to him noting the similarity of what he talked about to Hillary Clinton's sweetheart deal...then Netcom crashed and I never did send the mail. "Insider nontrading" is another gem of an idea. --Tim -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."