Follow the Money - And Take It Away

In today's L.A. Times (intrusive registration required - use 'laexaminer'/'laexaminer', and you are guaranteed at least two popunder ads every time you visit the darn site), an editorial supporting freezing the assets of the Burmese junta:

The U.S. Congress is considering tougher measures to freeze the assets of the Myanmar government held in the United States and to bar the country's leaders from traveling here.

Those steps are warranted unless Suu Kyi is released and allowed to travel freely. The United States and other countries earlier imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar that devastated its economy. Trade with Thailand and China, plus the export of narcotics, has kept it afloat.

The trading partners, other countries in the region and aid givers like Japan need to get tougher by imposing sanctions and aid suspensions to push the country toward democracy; that's the outcome Myanmar's citizens show they favor every time they get the chance.

They can't keep the cash under their mattresses. They can't invest it locally, because there is nothing to invest it in, so they'd rather have T-bills and real estate in New York or London. The things they want to buy - from Boeing, Chanel, and Nike - require dealing with Western companies.

While I'm not a fan of the intrusive measures designed to catch petty money-laundering, I do think it ought to be possible to trace the huge amounts these thugs steal from their people, find the places where it enters the Western economy, and make it risky and expensive for them to put or spend their money here.

I'm a believer in the market, and if we can make it riskier and more expensive for the thugs - and for those who profit from sweetheart deals with them - we can shift the behavior somewhat.
That's not as conceptually satisfying as Toby Keith's song suggests:

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
We'll all meet back at the local saloon
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses.