This is a Democracy Now interview with Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore banking and Tax Havens. It first broadcast on tax day, April 15, 2011. Mitt Romney comes up for discussion.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/15/offshore_banking_and_tax_havens_have
After watching this, it was clear to me that tax evasion by the very rich is the reason our government is broke.
The Republicans out there in the blogosphere are starting to get worried, now that they see what a turkey Romney is.
http://floppingaces.net/2012/01/20/republicans-in-denial-reader-post/
Why am I sooooooooo NOT surprised?
Posted by: Kay Dennison | January 24, 2012 at 11:43 AM
I would've thought it was the wars and runaway spending.
Posted by: Brandon | January 24, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Sixty Minutes had a segment last year about tax havens in Switzerland and how many US companies have a shell of an office with just one employee there.
Posted by: gigi-hawaii | January 24, 2012 at 02:02 PM
it seems obvious!
Warm Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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Posted by: cloudia | January 24, 2012 at 05:57 PM
Hattie--Is it "tax evasion" when it is perfectly legal? I call it "poor tax law". We have let past administrations set up tax law to favor just the sorts of maneuvering that the so-called tax evaders are taking advantage of. They are not stupid! Any exceptions in tax law lead to people (and corporations - that I do not consider to be people, even if the majority of the Supremes do) spending lots of money on lawyers and financial advisors to figure out how to pay fewer taxes.
Posted by: Cop Car | January 25, 2012 at 01:26 PM
Well, maybe hidden money would be a better way to put it.
One aspect of this I know about is the amount of money in foreign accounts that rich men put there to avoid paying alimony and child support. I learned this from a lawyer in Switzerland who specialized in arranging ways of keeping money away from ex-wives.
Anyone who can get a lot of assets over there can find a bank to take it for them. Tax evasion is not a felony in Switzerland! And anyway there are no international laws about it, although there may be agreements. But no matter how hard the U.S. leans on them, the Swiss maintain bank secrecy. We talked to a banker about how the U.S. gov does try to get Swiss banks to open up, trying to find assets, but it is a cat and mouse game. The Swiss really don't think they are in the wrong and have a clean conscience about what they do. To them, foreign governments poking around in their banks is a violation of their sovereignty.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/05/tax-gap-avoidance-switzerland
Posted by: Hattie | January 25, 2012 at 02:09 PM
That Shaxon is brilliant. (One more reason why I want to be a journalist with a background in Economics, too.)
Posted by: Z | January 25, 2012 at 09:53 PM
Z: Wouldn't it be great to have many lifetimes to be and do everything?
Posted by: Hattie | January 25, 2012 at 10:43 PM