For those of you were interested in reading a little more about the world of Tax evasion, corruption and off-shore financial fraud this is a link to a very good article by Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure Islands, which he sent me this morning.
As you will see it delves further into the dirty link between China and various British Tax Havens such as The Cayman Islands and The British Virgin Islands, which I touched upon in The Making of the New Sub Prime part Two. Turns out that the example I found was the very tip of a very large iceberg. The article begins to sketch out the whole system of Chinese fraud which is centred upon the Caymans and British Virgin Islands.
If you want to read what I wrote about Nicholas’ book “Treasure Islands”, and more generally about the Off-shore world and the morality of bankers you can read it in Treasure Islands – The Sickness of Off Shore.
Golem,
You are amazing. You are the most clued-in guy I know. You bring so much together here.
I am a longtime fan of Arianna Huffington. I watched her fight the mainstream media who ridiculed her every step of the way to the top. You are like her in many ways. In fact I think you are much better and capable of what she did and much more (without marrying a rich man who backed her financially).
I would love to see you as the UK answer to her Huffington Post (before she sold out to AOL). Any ideas on how it could be done? I am sure there are many posters here who would support you any way they could. I just think that your work deserves the widest possible circulation.
I am not much of a "fan" person, I rarely become a fan of anybody. The only two people in America I am a fan of by the way are Arianna and Michael Moore. They make a difference.
Read as widely as they are, you would make a huge difference.
Pat,
What can I say but thank you. But it's not just me is it? Many people contribute here, you among them.
The credit I am happy to take is for having started to bring together a group of people who are thoughful open minded, and courageous dissenters, and given them a place to meet and exchange ideas and information.
Perhaps we should think that in Egypt they took to the squares because that is where they had to go to meet. We are diong the same but less openly, less visibly. But nevertheless we are meeting and questioning.
Perhaps one day we will achieve some critical mass and overflow on to the streets and squares as well. I hope so. But in the mean time what we do here is the modern equivalient of the radicals of the Sixteenth century, my heroes, who met in coffee houses and public houses, questioned the foundations of monarchy and set in motion the ideas which created the English, American and French revolutions.
They did it. We can do it.