And somehow two weeks passed from the time when I said I might not be moderating many comments. My apologies to those who have commented over the past two weeks. I warned that there might be a delay in moderating comments, but I did not intend to be that long. A concentration on new work
Read the Rest…

I thought this comment on the blog worth giving greater emphasis: I would just like to reinforce this article with an insight from a local persons point of view of what the Jersey tax avoidance industry sorry I meant finance industry has done to the Island and what pressures it is putting on the people
Read the Rest…

I am aware that The Spirit Level has been the subject of right wing attack. After all, social justice, equality and well-being are anathema to the right. So it was good to note the authors inn action on the Guardian letter’s page this morning, saying: The Spirit Level shows that problems more common among the
Read the Rest…

From Germaine Greer in the Guardian this morning: The only really enviable privilege that the privileged have is the chance to do good. She may be right. But if it’s of the patronising form David Cameron suggests in his vision for the Big Society then that’s not good: that emphasises division, and that is decidedly
Read the Rest…

Another excellent cartoon from Hugh: Those of us who seek to change things know this. And aren’t put off by it. Those who object to change do not know this. And object as a consequence, futilely. Source.

Those with blind faith in private enterprise say it solves all our problems. And generates all wealth. I don’t agree. If it did I do not believe its supporters would need to take control of parliament to ensure they can capture the public sector to deliver wealth to their friends. Two hundred years or so
Read the Rest…

There was a fascinating combination of articles I noted recently I’ve been meaning to blog ever since. John Plender in the FT noted: The UK’s Financial Reporting Council, the chief corporate watchdog, produced a stewardship code last week in response to City of London grandee Sir David Walker’s recent report on financial sector governance identifying
Read the Rest…

A friend of mine runs a holiday establishment. A man from the British Banker’s Association came in. When he’d left he’d annotated my friend’s Robin Hood Tax poster: Looks like some people just can’t do holidays. And who takes post it notes with them when away?

I have written a programme in five parts for tackling the abuse that offshore secrecy jurisdictions facilitate. It tackles the key issues of opacity, tax abuse, corruption, corporate unaccountability, transfer mispricing and more besides that these secrecy jurisdictions are intended to create or facilitate. That is both an allegation and a fact: nothing has so
Read the Rest…