Don't Ever Mistake Nouriel Roubini for a Libertarian

NYU Professor Nouriel Roubini is calling for regulation of the art market.

At the World Economic Conference in Davos, he told an audience that regulation is needed in the art market because it is vulnerable to money laundering, tax evasion, trading on inside information and price manipulation.

“While art looks as if it is all about beauty, as a business it is full of shady stuff,” he said. “We should correct it or it will be undermined over time.”

“Whether we like it or not, art is used for tax avoidance and evasion,” Prof Roubini said. “It can be used for money laundering. You can buy something for half a million, not show a passport, and ship it. Plenty of people are using it for laundering.”

Looks to me like art is a better way to move around large sums of money, than bitcoins.

BTW: Friedrich Hayek used rare books he purchased in London to smuggle money that belonged to Ludwig von Mises into the US, which couldn't directly be sent because of controls at the time.

 -RW