I was in email conversation yesterday afternoon when it was suggested to me that the proper description for a tax haven was a Thiefdom.
I like it.
Thanks Jeanette and Helen!
I hope the word goes into circulation, not least because the evidence that it is a proper description is compelling.
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I have thought for a while that your movement needs a slogan. How about this?
Life isn’t fair, so Government should be!
After all, it’s not just tax, it’s not just tax havens – these are surely just part of a bigger picture.
I can’t claim the line as my own; it is in a one-woman show now on Broadway about the life of Ann Richards who, as a Democrat, achieved the unlikely feat of being elected Governor of Texas in 1988. I think you two would have found a lot to talk about.
I like it
Here’s a question – perhaps for the longer term. Obviously in the case where a tax haven is not even a sovereign state in terms of government (Ie BVI) what will happen to it once offshore finance ceases to function. Would the international community assist it in adjusting in terms of economic diversification or would you say: ‘You’ve made your bed, now line in it’?
I’m conscious of your comments policy (reiterated recently) and the fact you’re busy so this is not meant as an endorsement of tax havens – I’m merely looking at the longer term picture – how will these states adjust – by themselves or with support?
I have always suggested structural adjustment programmes
Without seeking to deny the point made by Van Patten, it is interesting to note the concern always raised about what offshore finance centres can do if they are no longer magnets for illicit cash.
It is implicit that either;
1) They don’t believe they could attract capital if they can’t compete on opacity, or
2) Banking, without opacity, is a fairly low-skilled activity that anyone can do (the international equivalent of taking in laundry) or
3) both.
Indeed