Power of the state in decline: Walter Wriston

Q: Why is the power of the state in decline?

Walter Wriston: Money goes where it's wanted and stays where it is well treated, and that's all she wrote. This annoys governments to no end.

Stateless money functions as a plebiscite on your policy. There are 300,000 screens out there, lit up with all the news that traders need to make value judgements on how well you're running your economy.

Today, if the president goes into the Rose Garden and says something dumb, the cross rate of the dollar will change within 60 seconds.

The information standard is more draconian than the gold standard, because the government has lost control of the marketplace.

Technology has overwhelmed public policy.

Q: As the power of sovereign governments wanes, who will be left in charge?

Walter Wriston: Everybody.

A magazine clipping found while cleaning a closet this evening. It was from Wired, 1998. The implications of Wriston's message is one of the reasons I love Google. And the other search engines as well. And my browser. Having an open source browser is just so sweet! Welcome, home -- Everybody.