The FT reports:
The food crisis has pushed the number of hungry people in the world to almost 1bn, in what the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation described on Tuesday as a "serious setback" to global efforts to reduce mass starvation.
"The ongoing financial and economic crisis could tip even more people into hunger and poverty," the FAO added.
The Rome-based organisation said that a preliminary estimate showed the number of undernourished people rose this year by 40m to about 963m people, after rising 75m in 2007. Before the food crisis, there were about 848m chronically hungry people in 2003-05.
Of course tax havens are not the sole cause of this crisis.
But they unambiguously contribute to it. The OECD estimates tax havens cost developing countries 7% of their GDP: $250 billion a year in the case of Africa, which is much more than we give them in aid.
That money could solve a lot of this problem. It's lost because of the operations of bankers, lawyers and accountants in tax havens. They need have very heavy consciences. They help cause world hunger, poverty and death. The link is indisputable.
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Your still content on blaming nearly all the world’s problems on tax havens.
It has of course nothing to do with EU and the developed nations policies like:
Farming subsidies, paying farmers for leaving fields empty while poorer nations starve, stock piling of grain in warehouses to rot.
Protecting markets from African nations exporting goods.
EU policy to increase biofuel to 20% of fuel at the pump, which will take the food from 150 million mouths a year and forces up the price of food, so Africans to Haitians cannot afford to feed their families.
The active support of Palm oil plantations that steal farmers and villages land, leaving them to starve.
The lack of control on the bug multinationals from developed nations stripping wealth and corrupting officials. Instead of blaming where the bribes may end up, blame the ones allowing for the bribes to be made in the first place. It seems what you want is for the bribes to carry on taking place, but just then take the money back afterwards.
So your big companies are not only stripping poor countries of their precious resources, but then you want them to keep any money they would have to pay for them as well. You think that will improve the wealth in these poorer countries. Stop the looting. Let local companies do the mining and drilling, and then pay maret rate for those commidities.
Everytime you fill your car look into your conscience and think it’s my vote and greed that allowed this to happen and for millions of people to starve.
And you feel fit to critisize some one like Bono, for legally reducing his tax bill, and then paying large amounts to assist these starving people directly.
My conscience is clear, is yours?
Yes
Mine’s clear
I campaign against all those
But I know tax havens are part oft he problem too
Why are you denying it?
Richard