Economics
Taxation

James S. Henry ... Exhaustive Study Finds Global Elite Hiding Up to $32 Trillion in Offshore Accounts

Burgess COMMENTARY
This is a good report and a good video interview of the report's author by Amy Goodwyn of Democracy Now.

The issue is critical ... and not at all on the agenda of the political and economic leadership of the world ... or perhaps it is.

It may well be that it is top on the hidden agenda that issue like this remain outside the spotlight of popular concern. The rich and powerful have immense power in the political capitals of the world, and in many places the rich and powerful of the business world are also the rich and powerful of the political world. The founders of the American Republic took great care to separate power so that no one group would control everything ... but the rich and powerful have now created a new world model where they have huge wealth and power, and with this can do much as they like ... and ordinary people be damned.

My technical expertise made it possible for me to be a very effective corporate CFO ... but my appreciation of the power of other dimensions of society and the economy only came later in life when I was able to observe massive flows of wealth being 'spirited' into places where the wealth should not be. I still cannot believe the brazenness of the behavior of the rich and powerful in their accumulation of personal wealth at the expense of everyone else.

Solving large systemic problems cannot be done with simple rational analysis. I have noted a long time ago that 'a single silver bullet' will not solve any of society's big problems, and that amazing things can be accomplished when a lot of people get together and pull together.

Part of the success of a big corporate is that they are organized so that all the staff 'pull together' towards the goal of the corporation ... profit. Nothing like it exists in society at large, and as a result, the only area of great efficiency is the corporate entity, and the 'only game in town' is making more profit for the corporation.

I see meaningful metrics for a smart society ... TrueValueMetrics ... as a tool to get society (people) to pull in the same direction towards common goals. This is not about getting people to have the same political agenda, but it is about getting people to have common ideas about quality of life for the community ... all the people in the community.
Peter Burgess

Exhaustive Study Finds Global Elite Hiding Up to $32 Trillion in Offshore Accounts

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Exhaustive Study Finds Global Elite Hiding Up to $32 Trillion in Offshore Accounts

democracynow·2,392 videos

DemocracyNow.org - A new report reveals how wealthy individuals and their families have between $21 and $32 trillion of hidden financial assets around the world in what are known as offshore accounts or tax havens. The actual sums could be higher because the study only deals with financial wealth deposited in bank and investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts. The inquiry was commissioned by the Tax Justice Network and is being touted as the most comprehensive report ever on the 'offshore economy.' It also finds that private banks are deeply involved in running offshore havens, with UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs handling the most assets. We're joined by the report's author, James Henry, a lawyer and former chief economist at McKinsey and Company.

To see more Democracy Now! reports about tax havens, visit http://www.democracynow.org/topics/ta...

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