There is much here that should generate outrage…An admirable job of both arguing the consequences of offshore banking and providing a succinct history of the practice.” - Kirkus To realize this end, they install corrupt leaders, exploit indigenous populations and, ultimately, deny both developed and developing nations of vital tax dollars. “Shaxson's story of offshore banking is nothing short of Shakespearean, a drama full of secrecy, treachery and corruption in which wealthy countries, companies and individuals collude to horde wealth in a complex global network of largely unregulated tax havens. “This book is a vigorous and well researched polemic against financial deregulation…” - Richard Cooper, Foreign Affairs 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.

In fact, it all starts on a tiny island called Manhattan. The offshore system sits much closer to home than the pristine tropical islands of the popular imagination. *For every dollar of aid we send to developing countries, ten dollars leave again by the backdoor *The rampant practices that precipitated the latest financial crisis can be traced back to Wall Street's offshoring practices *Over half of world trade is routed through tax havens With eye opening revelations, Treasure Islands exposes the culprits and its victims, and shows how: Tax havens are where all these players get to maximize their own rewards and leave the middle class to pick up the bill. 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. 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 this hard hitting investigation he uncovers how offshore tax evasion, which has cost the U.S. Nicholas Shaxson, a former correspondent for the Financial Times and The Economist, argues that tax havens are a central cause of all these disasters. While the United States experiences recession and economic stagnation and European countries face bankruptcy, experts struggle to make sense of the crisis.

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

Treasure island barnes and noble