Offshore banking starves governments of revenues that otherwise go unreported. It was odd but in my glimpse of Cayman customs I saw that some North Americans have a Cayman account and based on the interest or other earnings on the account are able to go on holiday in the Caymans drawing on their Cayman account. Thus they are able to "spend" that money without having to bring it back to their home country.
To the extent that offshore banking grows then government revenues are not as high as they otherwise might be. Arthur From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2012 12:54 AM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION; D & N Subject: Re: [Futurework] Arthur's 5th belief At 22:53 17/08/2012, Natalia wrote: snip---> The New York Times reports there's more money in the banks of the Cayman Islands than in all the banks of New York City combined. What's it all doing there? Avoiding taxes for one. But perhaps even more seriously, offshore banking starves the world's economy of cash at a time when it could really use a few extra bucks. (KH) There's hardly any money in its true sense (a consumer commodity) in the Cayman Islands at all. There are only electronic representations, of which every last digit has a physical counterpart sitting on the ground somewhere in the world or flying in the air or floating on the sea. Every last square inch of these items that are visible to the public (and owe their value to the public) is taxable. Offshore banking itself doesn't starve anybody. What starves us are onshore banks which are given special privileges by governments and which ought, when necessary, to be forced into bankrupt like every other business. Instead, they are propped up by the taxpayer by quantitative easing and other dodgy devices. If they weren't propped up, then every single unproductive, overvalued collateral would quickly find its true market price and productiveness. Keith Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com <http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/>
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