This headline is drawn from an important article at the London School of Economics website by Will Davies, Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. We've not had contact with Davies, but it seems we have been thinking along similar lines. … [Read more...]
Inequality & Tax Havens
“Western tax havens have resulted in Ukrainian deaths”
Here's something for the weekend. The American Interest has just published this article by Ben Judah, whose previous article on why Russia no longer fears the West caused such a stir earlier this year. The title says it all: How Offshore Finance Sank Western Soft Power. … [Read more...]
Why companies put together for tax reasons will be fragile
A while ago we explained how tax avoidance by multinational corporations is like refined sugar in the human body: empty financial calories with adverse long-term health effects. Now we have an article from Financial Times columnist John Gapper, who has looked at the tax-arbitrage nonsense … [Read more...]
New report: Inequality, Tax and a Rising Africa?
From Tax Justice Network for Africa and Christian Aid, a new report entitled Africa rising? Inequalities and the essential role of fair taxation. It investigates income inequality in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe: there has been little definitive … [Read more...]
Symposium: Tax Justice and Human Rights, McGill University, Montreal
Tax Justice and Human Rights A Collaborative Symposium for Researchers, Students and Activists … [Read more...]
Quote of the day: offshore London
From Britain's Telegraph newspaper, an article entitled Cool London is dead, and the rich kids are to blame: "Tax empty houses? Why, no. We wouldn’t want to upset some ex-KGB thug who looted the Kazakh treasury in the mid 1990s. We wouldn’t want to annoy a banker who “honestly” didn’t know he … [Read more...]
Quote of the day: inequality
From Shifting Grounds, our quote of the day: "New political eras begin when the ideas that define them are embraced by those most reluctant to accept their logic." The quote is about inequality - but it could just as well be about tax justice. … [Read more...]
Tax justice is good for growth: IMF
We recently briefly blogged an IMF report describing how economic inequality leads to slower economic growth. Now, in the Financial Times, a fascinating comment article by the IMF Deputy Research Director Jonathan Ostry, whose subtitle is "A more redistributive tax system appears to lead to … [Read more...]
Tax justice and modern-day colonialism: Areva vs. Niger
From Reuters, an excellent Special Report: "Niger has become the world's fourth-largest producer of the ore after Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. But uranium has not enriched Niger. The former French colony remains one of the poorest countries on earth." … [Read more...]
Income inequality leads to slower economic growth – IMF study
From Reuters: "Income inequality can lead to slower or less sustainable economic growth, while redistribution of income, when measured, does not hurt and can even help an economy, IMF staff found in a research study released on Wednesday." … [Read more...]
Fashion retailer’s tax dodges boost European inequality
Bloomberg tax star Jesse Drucker has another fine article out about the Spanish retailer Inditex, the parent of high street retail giant Zara. We would urge you to read it. Among many other things, it contains: "In the past five years, Inditex has shifted almost $2 billion in profits to a tiny … [Read more...]
New report: Growth in Africa fails to curb soaring inequality
From TJN-Africa and Christian Aid: February 24 2014 GROWTH IN AFRICA FAILS TO CURB SOARING INEQUALITY, SAYS NEW REPORT Unprecedented economic growth in a number of African countries is going hand in hand with soaring inequality, which national tax systems are failing to address, according … [Read more...]
Should donors boost aid to Pakistan if it won’t tax its élites?
The U.S.-based Tax Analysts has just published a fascinating article with the bland title Should Donor Countries Push Tax Reform? The answer, we think, is generally 'yes' - though it depends, of course, what we mean by 'reform.' The article notes: … [Read more...]
London, the Great Sucking Sound, and the Finance Curse
From Aditya Chakrabortty in the UK's Guardian newspaper: some statistics that are classics of the "Finance Curse" analysis - where an oversized financial centre begins to weigh on the rest of an economy, rather than to support it. … [Read more...]
How Inequality Became THE Issue – Five Years of The Spirit Level
From the Equality Trust: How Inequality Became THE Issue - Five Years of The Spirit Level … [Read more...]
