Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens - Hardcover

Shaxson, Nicholas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0230105017 ISBN 13: 9780230105010

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 2011

Synopsis

A thrilling ride inside the world of tax havens and corporate masterminds

While the United States experiences recession and economic stagnation and European countries face bankruptcy, experts struggle to make sense of the crisis. Nicholas Shaxson, a former correspondent for the Financial Times and The Economist, argues that tax havens are a central cause of all these disasters.

In this hard hitting investigation he uncovers how offshore tax evasion, which has cost the U.S. 100 billion dollars in lost revenue each year, is just one item on a long rap sheet outlining the damage that offshoring wreaks on our societies. In a riveting journey from Moscow to London to Switzerland to Delaware, Shaxson dives deep into a vast and secret playground where bankers and multinational corporations operate side by side with nefarious tax evaders, organized criminals and the world's wealthiest citizens. Tax havens are where all these players get to maximize their own rewards and leave the middle class to pick up the bill.

With eye opening revelations, Treasure Islands exposes the culprits and its victims, and shows how:

*Over half of world trade is routed through tax havens

*The rampant practices that precipitated the latest financial crisis can be traced back to Wall Street's offshoring practices

*For every dollar of aid we send to developing countries, ten dollars leave again by the backdoor

The offshore system sits much closer to home than the pristine tropical islands of the popular imagination. In fact, it all starts on a tiny island called Manhattan. In this fast paced narrative, Treasure Islands at last explains how the system works and how it's contributing to our ever deepening economic divide.

About this title

Review:

"An utterly superb book" (Jeffrey Sachs)

"Shaxson combines meticulous research with amusing anecdotes, resulting in a very readable account of the murky world of offshore and a strong moral message that the system needs to be changed" (Financial Times)

"Excellent... Shaxson comes as close as anyone ever has in getting the crux of the tax haven conundrum, which is to attempt to answer the question: why are they tolerated? - Evening Standard" (Evening Standard)

"A fascinating, chilling book" (Paul Krugman)

"Not just a crucial exposé of the corrupt systems endemic in the global economy, but also a rousing call to do something about them" (Holly Kyte Sunday Telegraph)

"An utterly superb book"

"Shaxson combines meticulous research with amusing anecdotes, resulting in a very readable account of the murky world of offshore and a strong moral message that the system needs to be changed"

"Excellent... Shaxson comes as close as anyone ever has in getting the crux of the tax haven conundrum, which is to attempt to answer the question: why are they tolerated? - Evening Standard"

"A fascinating, chilling book"

"Not just a crucial exposé of the corrupt systems endemic in the global economy, but also a rousing call to do something about them"

Book Description:

This is the ugliest chapter in global economic affairs since slavery - and secretive offshore tax havens are at the heart of the trouble.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0230105017
• ISBN 13: 9780230105010
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264