Mitu Gulati on Whether Trump Could Restructure US Debt
US Treasuries are the most important market in the world. With some $29 trillion outstanding, they create the benchmark that informs basically every other type of borrowing. Any changes to how the bond market works would be a massive deal. But lately, there's been a lot of chatter about how the Trump administration could radically restructure and refinance the US debt under the so-called "Mar-a-Lago Accord." In this episode, we speak with University of Virginia law professor Mitu Gulati about how far the administration could go to legally reform this huge and important market. We also talk about how to buy Greenland and whether Trump could make a few billion by collecting on some old loans from allies.
Read more:
One Way for Trump to Find a Few Extra Trillion Dollars
The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Bonds
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Here’s How Messy a Russian Bond Default Could Be
There’s a big question over whether Russia will be able (or willing) to make payments on billions of dollars it’s borrowed from investors given its current situation. Not only does the country have a history of previous major defaults, but some of its outstanding bonds are also structured kind of strangely. On this episode of the Odd Lots podcast, Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal speak with University of Virginia law professor Mitu Gulati and University of North Carolina's Mark Weidemaier. They describe how odd some Russian bonds are and what might happen after default.
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Not Reporting Info on Some Transaction Partners Could Soon Be a Felony - Ep.284
Remember the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which caused considerable backlash from the crypto community due to the language regarding “brokers?” Abe Sutherland, an adjunct professor at University of Virginia School of Law, believes another provision tucked inside the bill could end up being a far more significant issue for anyone transacting in digital assets. Show highlights:
how Abe fell down the crypto rabbit hole
what provision 6050I is and how it could affect anyone transacting with digital assets
how 6050I works and when it would apply
why violating 6050I would be a felony
how 6050I discourages digital asset transactions
how 6050I would apply to different transaction types, like peer-to-peer trades, NFT sales, and smart contract escrow accounts
what information recipients of digital assets must verify from the sender
how the government came up with the $10,000 reporting threshold and why Abe believes this number is outdated
why Abe thinks proposing 6050I within the infrastructure bill is inappropriate
what reasons the government has to want to put such stringent reporting requirements on digital asset transactions
how 6050I fits under the financial laws of the Bank Secrecy Act
why Abe believes the amendment should be struck from the infrastructure bill
what Abe thinks of the constitutionality of 6050I
how Abe views 6050I as less about generating tax revenue and more about tracking people’s digital asset transactions
what action steps he says the crypto community can take to fix the bill
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Episode links
Abe Sutherland
https://twitter.com/abesutherland
Medium Post: https://medium.com/@laurashin/why-not-reporting-info-on-your-crypto-trading-partner-could-become-a-felony-c6399998f113
Information on 6050I
Abe’s research report
https://www.proofofstakealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Research-Report-on-Tax-Code-6050I-and-Digital-Assets-printable.pdf
Tweet thread from Abe
https://twitter.com/abesutherland/status/1438881314871156736
https://twitter.com/abesutherland/status/1443082205383696384
6050I article Abe wrote for Bitcoin Magazine
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/the-proposal-to-regulate-digital-asset-transactions-should-be-struck
Abe’s appearance on What Bitcoin Did to discuss 6050I
https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/hidden-danger-in-the-infrastructure-bill
Twitter spaces with Congressman Warren Davidson, Peter McCormack, and others regarding the infrastructure bill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCq6BVLzF44
Miscellaneous 6050I links
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-crypto-industry-could-take-tax-fight-all-the-way-to-the-supreme-court-11632509009
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/09/29/infrastructure-bills-crypto-surveillance-criticized-unconstitutional/
https://fortune.com/2021/09/21/crypto-transactions-report-to-government/
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/17/crypto-lobbying-group-warns-of-another-tax-provision-in-senate-infrastructure-bill
https://www.coincenter.org/an-unworkable-and-arguably-unconstitutional-tax-change-tucked-away-in-the-infrastructure-bill/
https://decrypt.co/81236/overlooked-part-senate-infrastructure-bill-renews-worries-crypto-lobby
https://nickanthony.substack.com/p/last-minute-cryptocurrency-taxation
https://www.cato.org/blog/infrastructure-bill-hangs-balance-so-does-crypto
https://ambcrypto.com/what-is-the-u-s-infra-bill-crypto-amendment-really-all-about
Unchained coverage of the infrastructure bill
How Congress Might Pass Laws Bad for Proof-of-Stake and DeFi
https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/
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Mitu Gulati and Ugo Panizza on Haiti’s Odious Post-Colonial Debt
Nearly 200 years ago, the colonialist French power granted independence to Haiti. But it did so under the brutal condition that it pay 150 million francs in exchange for its freedom. This was a staggering sum that imposed a staggering imposition on the Haitian economy. And there's good reason to believe that that initial debt contributed to the ongoing poverty in the country. On this episode, we speak with law professor Mitu Gulati and economist Ugo Panizza about this odious debt, the significance of this burden, and the ongoing efforts for Haiti to obtain reparations.
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Three Sovereign Debt Experts Explain How The World Can Instantly Bring Aid To Emerging Markets
The economic crisis will result in an extraordinary amount of pain for emerging markets. In addition to the health disruption, the global economic collapse means that in many cases, exports have come to a standstill. So how can poorer countries be helped right now? On this episode, we speak with three experts in the field of sovereign debt. Lee Buchheit is formerly at Cleary Gottlieb and is considered to be the world’s foremost expert on sovereign debt law and restructurings. Mitu Gulati is a professor at Duke University School of Law and Ugo Panizza is a professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. The three have been working throughout the crisis to help put together a comprehensive aid plan for EMs. They talk to us about what it would look like, and why moving it forward has proven to be so difficult.
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