We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Capital flight and tax havens

Click here to access article by Sally Burch from América Latina en Movimiento.

This article provides a good summary of a 46 page report issued by the Tax Justice Network,
The study estimates -- an estimate that the authors consider conservative -- that for the year 2010 the funds from private wealth invested in more than eighty offshore jurisdictions – in accounts managed undercover and practically free from taxation – amount to at least 21 to 32 trillion dollars.