Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label "tax havens"
Legalised crime A couple of years ago, a teacher told me "it wasn't a problem if the bankers, the wealthy, etc engabe in tax evasion and tax avoidance because they create wealth and put it in the economy." "Perhaps the biggest problem is that tax havens mostly benefit financial elites, including some politicians and many of their donors. Meanwhile, pressure from voters for action is limited by the boring and confusing nature of the problem.  Sandwich, anyone?" —    (bbc online) How much of the world's wealth is hidden offshore
Reminder There is no money for infrastructure, free high education, more hospitals, housing, etc. "Assuming the £13tn mountain of assets [ hidden offshore wealth ] earned an average 3% a year for its owners, and governments were able to tax that income at 30% [like in the US, Brazil, India, for example], it would generate a bumper £121bn in revenues – more than rich countries spend on aid to the developing world each year." That is not a revolutionary solution, but one can see that it makes a significant difference.