A Swiss Banker Helped Americans Dodge Taxes. Was It a Crime?

Stefan Buck created bank accounts for dozens of Americans hiding money from tax collectors. The U.S. tried to hold him personally accountable. read more »

IRS Whistleblowers received over $33.9 million in awards in 2017

The Whistleblower Office Report to Congress for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017 was released on January 4, 2018 read more »

Mortgage corporation settles for $45M

Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced a $45 million settlement with PHH Mortgage Corp., due to improperly serviced mortgage loans between 2009 and 2012, according to a press release.

Borrowers will receive restitution of $30.4 million nationwide, including up to $1.2 million for Pennsylvanians.

Borrowers who were subjected to PHH foreclosures during the three-year period may qualify for a restitution payment of at least $840.

“This settlement holds this mortgage loan provider accountable for harm done to Pennsylvania homeowners whose loans were improperly serviced,” Shapiro said in a press release. “It also requires change in PHH’s behavior to make sure this company doesn’t repeat the improper conduct that harmed homeowners across the country.” read more »

Bitcoin is teaching libertarians everything they don’t know about economics

Bitcoin changes prices too quickly to be a currency and processes transactions too slowly to be a payments system, but it is juuust right for teaching libertarians everything they don't know about economics.

Not that they're paying attention.

If you listen to bitcoin's biggest backers, it's supposed to be our gleaming future, one where we can make money just by holding it, move it anywhere in the world for free, and no longer have to depend on banks or governments to do the right thing. If you look at what bitcoin actually does, though, it's more like digitized nostalgia for a pre-modern past where money was discovered rather than printed, economics was a simple subject where markets never failed, and you never had to trust anyone you didn't know. It works, then, the way libertarians think things should—which is to say not at all. read more »