Following our widely read analysis on Russia, Ukraine, the City of London, and national security - here's another must-read article in the New York Times from the same author, Ben Judah, who wrote the original one we cited. … [Read more...]
Inequality & Democracy
Links Mar 7
Swiss parliament relaxes terms for tax data exchange swissinfo "Parliament has approved a legal amendment that tax evaders will not always have to be told if Switzerland sends information about them to other countries." But to what extent is this just lip-service? How do trusts, foundations and … [Read more...]
Links Mar 6
IMF Launches International Public Consultation Taxation International News& Information "The IMF is looking into how the tax policies of different countries can potentially interact to unintentionally facilitate tax evasion, aggressive tax planning, and excessive profit shifting." … [Read more...]
Grace’s story: a schoolgirl and a corrupted world
From the Exposed Campaign: a powerful two-minute video, which speaks for itself. … [Read more...]
Links Mar 4
Black money: Switzerland refuses to share information on bank account holders, Delhi mulls strong response The Economic Times India, US to intensify cooperation in tax evasion cases The Economic Times … [Read more...]
Ukraine: how to put pressure on Russia
Following our blog yesterday looking at the national security implications of Europe's tax haven mentality, we have been drawn to this post from 2008, looking at the West's options in dealing with Russian aggression in Georgia at the time. It lists several interesting possibilities, but we found … [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...]
Why Russia no longer fears the West. It’s the offshore, stupid
If there's one story you read today make it this one, from Politico Magazine. It's triggered by the crisis in Ukraine, but it's been a long time coming. The point of this short story is clear: Western leaders are waking up to the fact that Russia no longer fears or even respects them. Why? … [Read more...]
Anonymous UK company owned Viktor Yanukovych’s presidential palace compound
From Global Witness - see also Daily Mail and The Independent. Update: see also this important blog, looking at the national security implications of all this corruption. Anonymous UK company owned Viktor Yanukovych’s presidential palace compound 1 March 2014 The private residence of the … [Read more...]
Links Feb 28
Kenya: Tax Holidays Abused, Says NGO allAfrica Why Isn’t Africa’s Economic Growth Benefiting The Poor? Atlanta BlackStar … [Read more...]
European MEP calls for hearing on Swiss banking scandals
Following the latest Credit Suisse scandal in the United States, Ana Gomes, a European Member of Parliament, has issued this public letter to the chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE); and Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON.) We fully … [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...]
Tax havens and corruption: Lebedev and TJN in the NYT
From Alexander Lebedev in the New York Times: "According to the Tax Justice Network, an independent group promoting efforts to curb tax avoidance, crooked business people, working with corrupt officials, have embezzled $30 trillion over the last 15 years — or half of the world’s annual gross … [Read more...]
Credit Suisse: industrial scale corruption in Switzerland
From The Guardian: "Senators Carl Levin and John McCain had harsh words for the Justice Department and the Swiss government, too, as they released a 178-page permanent subcommittee on investigation (PSI) report into offshore tax avoidance. … [Read more...]