Upcoming: U.S. Congressman Dan Miller Looks at the Metaverse

This Monday the Metanomics series is pleased to present Dan Miller, Senior Economist at the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. His latest study, Costs and Consequences of the Federal Estate Tax, investigates one of the more controversial debates in taxation today. He'll be talking about the legislative outlook on virtual worlds, from taxation to the Department of Homeland Security. Though Dan is speaking as an individual, not for or on behalf of Congress, it's nevertheless a significant milestone for the Metaverse, and the Metanomics series.

Around this time last year he indicated that many economists were struggling with issues of virtual taxation: “I found that talking about this issue with some of the other economists on the committee, they are not really familiar with what a virtual economy is. The idea of Second Life or World of Warcraft or some of these other synthetic universes, they have trouble wrapping their head around it. So there’s an educational hurdle to overcome here,” he said.

This didn't mean that taxes weren't going to come to virtual worlds. "Given growth rates of 10 to 15 percent a month, the question is when, not if, Congress and IRS start paying attention to these issues," he told CNet last December. In August he met with Mindark, creators of Entropia Universe, in what by all accounts was a very productive meeting on the topics of tax evasion, money laundering, and terrorism.

As usual there are many ways for you to participate. Join us in Second Life on Monday at Metaversed Island, or watch the live feed on the web at SLCN.tv. You can also ask questions ahead of time at the Metanomics website.