Secret Bankers Be Warned: ‘Panama Papers’ Were the First Shots of a ‘Helvetian War.’
While Trump tweets that Hillary is Crooked, his peers are draining the lifeblood from many nation’s economies. The large scale corruption and theft are likely the cause of the financial doldrums we are in. It’s time to wrest back the stolen wealth before worst things occur to even the scales.
“Global Financial Integrity recently found that developing economies lost $7.8 trillion in cash from 2004 to 2013 because of maneuvers like those allegedly perfected by Mossack. Illicit outflows are increasing at a rate of 6.5% a year, twice the rate of global GDP growth,” says Time Magazine journalist Rana Foroohar, adding that this drain might prove a contributing factor to the slowing economies of many developing countries, which could set off a global recession. The problem is global. Ukraine is seeking ways to recover vast amounts that senior officials stole during former President Viktor Yanukovych’s four years in office. “Even taking a conservative estimate of the scale of fraud for just VAT and public procurement, one ends up with a figure of $30 billion.” I would add that stopping this plunder could make a crucial difference between hope and despair, between life and death, for tens of millions of children. People are becoming more aware of the impact of corruption and how much it actually costs Africa, for example. The Panama Papers revealed that one company in Uganda avoided $400 million in taxes in an oil deal. That represents more than the country’s annual health budget. To be clear, this pandemic of secret, kleptocratic vampirism is the great lake of lucre that banking havens are most determined to keep secure and off limits from prying eyes.
More: CONTRARY BRIN: Secret bankers be warned: ‘Panama Papers’ were the first shots of a ‘Helvetian War.’