In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Improved America?

* OFFSHORE: Swiss Police State? EU Tax Swiss. Swiss Shut Down. Gibraltar Partial. Consultants Save Taxes Offshore. Bermuda Banks May Expand. Nevis Clean Up Meet. Singapore Shocked.

* WEALTH: EU Wants In-Out Cash Controls. ATM Card Security. More Spanish Bank Scandals. Patriot Act Rule Burdens.

* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: Anti-Terror Law Thrown Out. U.K. ID Cards. UK Grants Asian Africans Full Citizenship.

* COMMENT: Improved America?

Dear A-Letter Reader:
Joseph L. Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, a free market think tank based in Chicago, Illinois, readily admits:'The War on Terrorism, libertarians and conservatives agree, has accelerated our descent into statism, creating a police state in waiting where civil offenses have become criminal offenses, and state and local crimes have become federal crimes.'

But unlike many, Mr. Bast does not believe 'all is lost.'

He suggests there are six areas in which freedom is actually gaining:
1) Public morals: statistics show since 1980 decreases in abortions, teen pregnancy, divorce, welfare cases and crime in general.
2) Government size: Government spending at all levels as a percent of national income is down from 41% in 1992, its highest point since World War II, to 34.7% in 2000.
3) The Economy: Average annual rate of inflation, once a major problem, fell from 1970s double digits to 5.1% in the 1980s to just 2.9% in the 1990s.
4) De-Regulation: Government controls have been a trillion dollar weight on the national economy, but deregulation has been a megatrend in the US and globally for the past two decades.
5) War and Peace: 2001 defense spending was about 3% of GDP, lower than at any time since the Great Depression.
6) Education: The $400 billion public school monopoly is about to be broken by the Supreme Court ruling in favor of vouchers.

Mr. Bast concludes: 'There are no rest stops on the road to freedom, because interest groups and big government liberals will never stop trying to use the power of the state to fleece or impose their values on the rest of us. Huge challenges still await us, but they should not prevent us from seeing the progress we've already made. The era of big government really is over.'

What do you think?

That's not necessarily the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
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COMMENT LINKS:
* Are We Lost? Joseph L. Best, Heartland Foundation.
LINK: http://www.feenews.org/19.htm
* E-mail: jbast@heartland.org

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OFFICIAL WARNS AGAINST SWISS 'POLICE STATE'
Switzerland's top data protection official warns against violating the rights of Swiss citizens in the name of anti-terror programs.
LINK: http://www2.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=1215141
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E.U. TAXMAN PRESSURES SWISS ON TAX EVASION
EU's top tax man meets with Swiss Finance Ministers.
LINKS: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=8694
http://www2.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=161&sid=1217737
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SWISS SHUT DOWN FINANCE COMPANIES
Anti-money laundering agency closes three finance operations.
LINK: Click Here
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PARTIAL PLAN FOR GIBRALTAR?
Talk, talk, talk but no agreement on a 5-year turnover plan.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=8687
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BIG 5 CONSULTANTS SAVE TAXES OFFSHORE
Big Five accounting consultant spin-offs use structures in Bermuda, Luxembourg and Switzerland designed to minimize taxation.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=8693
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BERMUDA MAY ALLOW NEW BANKS
HAMILTON. Bank regulators may allow new or foreign banks into three-bank Bermuda for the first time in 40 years.
LINK: Click Here.
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CLEANED UP NEVIS HOSTS MONEY LAUNDERING MEET
BASSETERRE. Long time tax haven, fresh off the FATF blacklist plans for a clean money future.
LINK: Click Here.
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SINGAPORE RECESSION SHOCKS CITY STATE
After decades of growth, questioning of a state directed economy.
LINK: http://www.feer.com/articles/2002/0207_11/p044money.html

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E.U. WANTS ENTRY-EXIT CASH REPORTS
BRUSSELS. The 15 nation bloc may require signed reports from all visitors carrying more than 15,000 euros in cash or equivalent value.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=8685
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E.U. BANK CARD SECURITY
AMSTERDAM. Current magnetic strip ATM cards may soon be replaced by more secure electronic chip cards.
LINK: http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=11230
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ANOTHER SPANISH BANK SCANDAL
MADRID. Santander Central Hispano (SCH), Spain's biggest bank, faces fresh troubles; five top executives of aiding tax evasion.
LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_2076000/2076002.stm
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S.E.C. PATRIOT ACT RULES A MAJOR BURDEN
WASHINGTON. Mutual funds, brokers and maybe hedge funds too.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=8691

U.S. ANTI-TERROR LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL
LOS ANGELES. A federal judge says the government cannot label groups as 'terrorist' without an appeal process.
LINK: http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20020627-595079.htm
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U.K. LABOUR WANTS NATIONAL I.D CARDS
LONDON: For the first time since post-WW II wa back in 1952.
LINK: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=03072002-121925-9331r

* Massive abuse of UK privacy feared.
LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2038000/2038036.stm
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BRITISH CITIZENSHIP FOR 35,000 AFRICAN ASIANS
LONDON: 35 000 overseas British ex-colonials of Asian origin living in east Africa are to be granted full UK citizenship.
LINK: http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.jsp?a=37&o=5509
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