Did you see the tax dodger ads in the papers this week? On the day that VAT went up, campaign group 38 Degrees placed ads in several major newspapers. The ads showed chancellor George Osborne as the ‘artful dodger’ out of Oliver Twist, and calls for a focus on tax evasion instead of VAT. Despite [...]
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Sponsor a tax dodger ad
On the 4th of January Value Added Tax (VAT) will go up in the UK. The sales tax will rise from 17.5% to 20%. It’s partly to pay off the advance that Labour gave us of course, when they temporarily lowered it to 15% to boost consumption a while back. It’s also to help cut [...]
The Death of Capital, by Michael Lewitt
Michael E Lewitt is that rarest of birds, an honest and public spirited Wall Street fund manager, and this book is his attempt to make sense of what happened in the 2008 financial crisis, and outline some steps to prevent it happening again. The Death of Capital might seem like an ominous title, but Lewitt’s [...]
We’ve never had it so good, probably
I had to laugh at the Japanese minister who was forced to resign last week. “Being justice minister is easy” he told constituents in the joke that would cost him his job, “as I only have to remember two phrases, either of which I can use in parliament whenever I’m stuck for an answer”. The [...]
Speculating in the cocoa fields
This weekend I noticed another story about speculation in commodities, this time in cocoa. Since the commodity markets don’t get nearly enough attention, or enough outrage in my opinion, I’ve posted this story alongside an earlier one that explains how commodity markets work. The latest speculation debacle is in the cocoa market, where the prices [...]
The giving pledge
Could you give away 99% of what you own? Probably not, but that’s something Warren Buffett has promised recently. ”More than 99% of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my lifetime or at death” he wrote recently (pdf). “I will continue to live in a manner that gives me everything that I could possibly want in [...]
Save the West with undevelopment aid
Aid usually flows one way – the rich world attempting to sort out the problems of the poor. But what if you turn it on its head for a change? What if the developing world got to have a go? “We have been focusing our energy and resources on trying to solve our Developing World [...]
The world’s most secretive financial centres
The Tax Justice Network and Christian Aid have compiled a report on the world’s most secretive financial centres. Called the Financial Secrecy Index, it is a league table of banking opacity, showing which parts of the world are least likely to cooperate with international financial reform. Here’s the top five: Delaware, US Luxembourg Switzerland Cayman [...]
Robin Hoodies
The latest video from the Robin Hood Tax, and idea which seems to be on a roll. If you want to get more involved, tomorrow is a day of action for the campaign, including the invitation to give up 0.005% of your day. Now let’s see if any of the parties are brave enough to [...]
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