A sum equal to the US and Japan GDPs flows out of wealthiest Countries to ‘tax havens’, being 81% of world financial wealth in the hands of 0,14% of world’s population
A study by Tax Justice, a Network founded by the former McKinsey’s chief economist James Henry, reveals the huge dimensions of money leaks out of Western and Developing Countries into secretive jurisdictions with the help of private banks. At the endo of 2010, top 50 banks in the world managed 12,1 trillion dollars of ‘international investments’. UBS, Credit Suisee and Goldman Sachs are on top of this chart.
Graphics by Corriere della Sera
If all this money had a capital gain of 3%, with a 30% taxation we could have State earnings around 190 and 280 billion dollars per year: around double the sum spent by OECD for aids to developing Countries, and enough to save populations from the crisis of Sovereign debts.
According to Henry’s calculations, £6.3tn of assets is owned by only 92,000 people, or 0.001% of the world’s population. “These estimates reveal a staggering failure: inequality is much, much worse than official statistics show, but politicians are still relying on trickle-down to transfer wealth to poorer people,” said John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network to The Observer. “People on the street have no illusions about how unfair the situation has become.” Read the report.
