Dialogue #1: Can pay... won't pay!
Social Future sets out to reach the secret parallel universe of Some 1,000 random dudes, where they set themselves apart from the rest of the society and have created a vast offshore economy from where they and powerful corporations can disengage from regulation and taxes.
Social Future: So guys, tell me, how much $$ have you parked offshore?
Some 1,000 random dudes: About $11.5 trillion, this allows us to dodge $250 billion dollars each year in tax!
The World Bank: Letâs add the tax dodging by major corporations to this as well, 185 out of 200 of them belong to you, isnât it right?
Some 1,000 random dudes: Yeap.
Social Future: Hmm⊠Each year you spend about $100 billion on aid, so for every $1 of aid in $8 flow out under the table?
Some 1,000 random dudes: Correct.
Tax Havens: We are the ideal setting for criminality and corruption; we have become indistinguishable from the mainstream economy. We are the financial world without rules and regulations. We provide secrecy to facilitate not just tax evasion, but also insider dealing, market rigging, payment of illicit political donations, bribery and all sorts of other corrupt practices.
Sani Abacha: Oh, remember how you charged me top dollar for managing my $300 million and then after the money was forced for repatriation not a single banker was punished?
Jersey-based Tax Haven: Oh yeah, good times, good times..
Former Soviet Union Politicians: Or the times when we robbed 15 nations of their life savings during the collapse of the USSR?
Companies: Yeah, we donât use you to add economic value to our activities, but as a means of economic âfree ridingâ and carrying out a financial scam.
Tax Havens: We know this. We are the heart of global financial markets. Nearly half of all world trade now passes through tax havens.
Changemaker: This is so complex, but I want to get my head round it, Iâll set up a Tax Justice NetworkâŠ
Some 1,000 random dudes: Crap
Social Future: Yeah, it is a global priority to shut you down, you are a time bomb, not a financial system. The banking system of the future is open and transparent, with progressive and equitable taxation, strong culture of responsibility, where corporations are accountable and tax compliant.
Dialogue inspired by work of John Christensen - a development economist who went undercover in Jerseyâs banking sector to discover how tax havens operate. Check out www.taxjustice.net
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