Treasure Islands: Dirty Money, Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole Your Cash

This is the ugliest chapter in global economic affairs since slavery -- and secretive offshore tax havens are at the heart of the trouble. Dirty money, tax havens and the offshore system describe the ugliest and most secretive chapter in the history of global economic affairs. The World Bank has reported that the flow of dirty money across borders, out of developing countries and into rich ones, is up to ten times the amount of foreign aid that flows the other way. Most people regard tax havens as being relevant only to celebrities, crooks and spivs, and mistakenly believe that the main offshore problems are money laundering and terrorist financing. These are only small parts of the whole picture. The offshore system has been (discreetly) responsible for the greatest ever shift of wealth from poor to rich. It also undermines our democracies by offering the wealthiest members of society escape routes from tax, financial regulation and other normal democratic controls. The anti-globalisation movement tapped into an uneasiness, felt by millions, that something was rotten in the world economy. Treasure Islands brilliantly articulates the problem in a completely new way, and exposes the deep corruption that impacts on our daily lives. Dirty money, tax havens and the offshore system describe the ugliest and most secretive chapter in the history of global economic affairs. Billionaire Warren Buffet, currently the third wealthiest man in the world, paid the lowest rate of tax among his office staff, including his receptionist. In 2006 the world's three biggest banana companies did nearly GBP400 million worth of business in Britain but paid just GBP128,000 in tax between them. In January 2009, US law enforcement fined Lloyds TSB $350 million after it admitted secretly channelling Iranian and Sudanese money into the US banking system. Tax havens are the most important single reason why poor people and poor countries stay poor. They lie at the very heart of the global economy, with over half the world trade processed through them. They have been instrumental in nearly every major economic event, in every big financial scandal, and in every financial crisis since the 1970s, including the latest global economic downturn. In "Treasure Islands", Nicholas Shaxson shows how this happened, and what this means for you This is the ugliest chapter in global economic affairs since slavery - and secretive offshore tax havens are at the heart of the trouble. Billionaire Warren Buffet, currently the third wealthiest man in the world, paid the lowest rate of tax among his office staff, including his receptionist. In 2006 the world's three biggest banana companies did nearly £400 million worth of business in Britain but paid just £128,000 in tax between them. In January 2009, US law enforcement fined Lloyds TSB $350 million after it admitted secretly channelling Iranian and Sudanese money into the US banking system. Tax havens are the most important single reason why poor people and poor countries stay poor. They lie at the very heart of the global economy, with over half the world trade processed through them. They have been instrumental in nearly every major economic event, in every big financial scandal, and in every financial crisis since the 1970s, including the latest global economic downturn. In Treasure Islands, Nicholas Shaxson shows how this happened, and what this means for you "We are witnessing the greatest shift of wealth from poor to rich in history. In the United States alone, the wealthiest avoid paying an astonishing $53 billion in taxes each year. Nicholas Shaxson, in league with the Tax Justice Network, dives deep into the secret world of tax havens and takes us to hot spots from Switzerland to Panama to Delaware in a riveting narrative of how society loses through illegal tax evasion. With jaw-dropping stories and vivid explanations, Shaxson highlights the biggest players in the game, and shows how: - More than 12,750 foreign corporations get out of paying taxes each year by claiming to have offices in the same five-story building in the Cayman Islands. - One thousand children die every day as a result of illegal, trade related tax evasion. - Although billions are poured annually into Africa, corrupt officials there stow twice as much away in tax havens, making Africa a net creditor to the rest of the world. "-- "Dirty money, tax havens and the offshore system describe the ugliest and most secretive chapter in the history of global economic affairs. Tax havens have declared war on honest, law-abiding people around the world. Wealthy individuals hold over ten trillion dollars offshore. Tax havens are the most important single reason why poor people and poor countries stay poor. Britain and the United States are the world's two most important tax havens. Tax havens now lie at the very heart of the global economy. Over half of world trade, and most international lending, is processed through them. Tax havens have been instrumental in nearly every major economic event, in every big financial scandal, and in every financial crisis since the 1970s, including the latest global economic crisis. "Treasure Islands" show how this happens and reveal what the economics text books will not tell you."