Anatomy of a Global Investigation: Collaborative, Data-Driven, Without Borders by William E
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Who Owns the Wealth in Tax Havens? Macro Evidence and Implications for Global Inequality
Journal of Public Economics 162 (2018) 89–100 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Public Economics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jpube Who owns the wealth in tax havens? Macro evidence and implications for ☆ T global inequality Annette Alstadsætera, Niels Johannesenb, Gabriel Zucmanc,d,* a Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway b CEBI, University of Copenhagen, Denmark c UC Berkeley, United States d NBER, United States ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Drawing on newly published macroeconomic statistics, this paper estimates the amount of household wealth Inequality owned by each country in offshore tax havens. The equivalent of 10% of world GDP is held in tax havens Wealth globally, but this average masks a great deal of heterogeneity—from a few percent of GDP in Scandinavia, to Tax evasion about 15% in Continental Europe, and 60% in Gulf countries and some Latin American economies. We use these Tax havens estimates to construct revised series of top wealth shares in ten countries, which account for close to half of JEL classification: world GDP. Because offshore wealth is very concentrated at the top, accounting for it increases the top 0.01% H26 wealth share substantially in Europe, even in countries that do not use tax havens extensively. It has considerable H87 effects in Russia, where the vast majority of wealth at the top is held offshore. These results highlight the E21 importance of looking beyond tax and survey data to study wealth accumulation among the very rich in a globalized world. 1. Introduction statistics, we do not have a clear view of who uses tax havens. -
The Future of Investigative Journalism: Global, Networked and Collaborative
The Future of Investigative Journalism: Global, Networked and Collaborative Ellen Hume and Susan Abbott March 2017 Note: This report is extracted from our recent evaluation of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) for the Adessium Foundation. Ellen Hume would like to thank especially David Kaplan, Susan Abbott, Anya Schiffrin, Ethan Zuckerman, James Hamilton, Tom Rosenstiel, Bruce Shapiro, Marina Guevara Walker and Brant Houston for their insights. 2 1. Overview: The Investigative Media Landscape The internet and DIY communication tools have weakened the commercial mainstream media, and authoritarian political actors in many once-promising democratic regions are compromising public media independence. Fewer journalists were murdered in 2016 than the previous year, but the number of attacks on journalists around the world is “unprecedented,” according to the Index on Censorship.1 Even the United States, once considered the gold standard for press freedom, has a president who maligns the mainstream news media as “enemies of the people.” An unexpectedly bright spot in this media landscape is the growth of local and cross-border investigative journalism, including the emergence of scores of local nonprofit investigative journalism organizations, often populated by veterans seeking honest work after their old organizations have imploded or been captured by political partisans. These journalism “special forces,” who struggle to maintain their independence, are working in dangerous environments, with few stable resources to support them. Despite the dangers and uncertainties, it is an exciting time to be an investigative journalist, thanks to new collaborations and digital tools. These nonprofits are inventing a potent form of massive, cross-border investigative reporting, supported by philanthropy. -
European Parliament
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion Public Hearing The Panama papers – Discussion with the investigative journalists behind the revelations 27 September 2016 9h00 - 11h30 (2h30) Paul-Henri Spaak 1A002 Brussels Draft PROGRAMME 09:00 - 09:10 Welcome by the PANA Chair 09:10 - 09:20 Pre-recorded messages from Gerard Ryle and Marina Walker, Directors at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) [based in Washington DC] Bastian Obermayer, Süddeutsche Zeitung [based in Washington DC] 09:20 - 10:10 Presentations by speakers (all confirmed, at 7 min each) Frederik Obermaier (Süddeutsche Zeitung) (via Skype/ visioconference) Kristof Clerix (Knack magazine, Belgium) Oliver Zihlmann (Sonntagszeitung | Le Matin Dimanche, Switzerland) Julia Stein and Jan Strozyk (Norddeutscher Rundfunk/ NDR, Germany) Minna Knus (MOT, Finnish Broadcasting Company, Finland) 10:30 - 11:25 Discussion with PANA Members 11:25 - 11:30 Conclusions by the PANA Chair Secretariat of the Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion [email protected] PUBLIC HEARING THE PANAMA PAPERS – DISCUSSION WITH THE INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS BEHIND THE REVELATIONS TUESDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2016 9.00 - 11.30 Room: Paul-Henri Spaak (1A002) CVS OF THE JOURNALISTS Gerard Ryle Gerard Ryle leads the ICIJ’s headquarters staff in Washington, D.C., as well as overseeing the consortium’s more than 190 member journalists in more than 65 countries. Before joining as the ICIJ’s first non-American director in September 2011, Ryle spent 26 years working as a reporter, investigative reporter and editor in Australia and Ireland, including two decades at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers. -
IMPACT REPORT a Word from the Founder and Director|
2017 - 2020 IMPACT REPORT A word from the founder and director| In October 2017 as we were preparing to launch a collaborative " network of journalists dedicated to pursuing and publishing the work of other reporters facing threats, prison or murder, prominent Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was horrifically silenced with a car bomb. Her murder was a cruel and stark reminder of how tenuous the free flow of information can be when democratic systems falter. We added Daphne to the sad and long list of journalists whose work Forbidden Stories is committed to continuing. For five months, we coordinated a historic collaboration of 45 journalists from 18 news organizations, aimed at keeping Daphne Caruana Galizia’s stories alive. Her investigations, as a result of this, ended up on the front pages of the world’s most widely-read newspapers. Seventy-four million people heard about the Daphne Project worldwide. Although her killers had hoped to silence her stories, the stories ended up having an echo way further than Malta. LAURENT RICHARD Forbidden Stories' founder Three years later, the journalists of the Daphne Project continue and executive director. to publish new revelations about her murder and pursue the investigations she started. Their explosive role in taking down former Maltese high-ranking government officials confirms that collaboration is the best protection against impunity. 2 2017-2020 Forbidden Stories Impact Report A word from the founder and director| That’s why other broad collaborative On a smaller scale, we have investigations followed. developed rapid response projects. We investigated the circumstances The Green Blood Project, in 2019, pursued behind the murders of Ecuadorian, the stories of reporters in danger for Mexican and Ghanaian journalists; investigating environmental scandals. -
Hidden Wealth
Hidden Wealth Neil Cummins∗ July 1, 2020 Abstract I propose a method to measure hidden wealth using historical archives. Applying this to Eng- land, 1920-1992, it is revealed that elites conceal, at minimum, around 20% of their inherited wealth. Among dynasties, this hidden wealth, independent of declared wealth, predicts appear- ance in the Offshore Leaks Database of 2013-6, house values in 1999, and Oxbridge attendance, 1990-2016. Accounting for hidden wealth eliminates one-third of the observed decline of the top 10% wealth-share over the past century. I find 8,839 dynasties that are hiding at least £7.4 Billion. JEL: N00, N33, N34, D31, H26 Keywords: hidden wealth; inequality; economic history; big data; tax evasion ∗Economic history, LSE and CEPR. Email: [email protected], neilcummins.com. Thanks to Olivier Ac- cominotti, Greg Clark, Morgan Kelly, Andy Summers, Patrick Wallis, Gabriel Zucman and seminar participants at Lucerne, Humboldt and the LSE for helpful suggestions. 1 1 Introduction The 20th century’s ‘Great Equalization’ of wealth in Europe and the United States was the result of the decline of the top wealth-shares. In England the wealth-share of the top 1% transformed from over 75%, in 1900, to less than 20% by 1970. New wealth created by the post-war ‘Golden Age’ of economic growth grew faster than net-of-taxes returns on capital (Piketty (2014), p.362-3). We base this stylized fact primarily upon observed, or declared, wealth. But the incentive to hide wealth exploded over the 20th century. In the 1950s, the top rate of estate tax was around 80%. -
Dstv-Positionen Zur Bundestagswahl 2017
www.dstv.de DStV-Positionen zur Bundestagswahl 2017 Baden- Berlin- Württemberg Brandenburg Rheinland- Saarland Schleswig- Westfalen- Pfalz Holstein Lippe Impressum Verantwortlich für den Inhalt: Deutscher Steuerberaterverband e.V. Littenstraße 10 10179 Berlin Telefon: 030 27876-2 Telefax: 030 27876-799 E-Mail: [email protected] www.dstv.de Stand: Februar 2017 Bildnachweis: © apfelweile - fotolia.de ÜBER DEN DEUTSCHEN STEUERBERATERVERBAND e.V. Der Deutsche Steuerberaterverband e.V. (DStV) repräsentiert bundesweit rund 36.500 und damit über 60 % der selbstständig in eigener Kanzlei tätigen Berufsangehörigen. Er vertritt ihre Interessen im Berufsrecht, im Steuer- recht, der Rechnungslegung und dem Prüfungswesen. Die Berufsangehörigen sind als Steuerberater, Steuerbe- vollmächtigte, Wirtschaftsprüfer, vereidigte Buchprüfer und Berufsgesellschaften, in den uns angehörenden 16 regionalen Mitgliedsverbänden freiwillig zusammengeschlossen. 2 DStV-POSITIONEN ZUR BUNDESTAGSWAHL 2017 EINLEITUNG Deutschland finanziert seine vielfältigen Aufgaben menbedingungen bilden eine attraktive Grundlage, weitgehend durch Steuern. Die Auferlegung und Erhe- Investitionen zu tätigen oder wichtige persönliche Dis- bung der Steuern müssen rechtsstaatlichen Grundsät- positionen zu treffen und damit Risiken einzugehen. zen gerecht werden. So hat das Bundesverfassungsge- richt immer wieder den Grundsatz der Folgerichtigkeit Der Staat ist daher verpflichtet, mithilfe des Steuer- als Ausprägung des Prinzips der Gleichbehandlung rechts entsprechende Rahmenbedingungen -
Sex, Genes, Politics and Company Law: Can Capitalist Democracy Coexist with Human Survival? Chris King Aug 2013 – Sep 2020 Genotype 1.1.39
Sex, Genes, Politics and Company Law: Can Capitalist Democracy coexist with Human Survival? Chris King Aug 2013 – Sep 2020 Genotype 1.1.39 http://dhushara.com/sgpcl/ Fig 1: (Left) Mortal combat between the Bear and Bull stock market overlaid by the triple witching hour instability 2011. (Right) Fireworks over Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, NY. Contents 1. Twin Pillars with Feet of Clay in a One-Sided Love Affair 1 2. Sexual Conflict and Human Emergence 2 3. Urbanization and the Rise of Patriarchal Dominance 4 4. Democracy, Patriarchy and Military Alliance 5 5. Democracy meets the ‘Age of Enlightenment' 7 6. Capitalism, Patriarchy and Ecology 9 7. A Primer on Inequality and the Gini coefficient 14 8. The Rich get Richer: Is Capitalism the Democratic Complement? 19 9. Gerrymandering: Politics Cheating Democracy 25 10. The Harder They Fall: Global Financial Crisis 28 11. Quants and Light-speed: Testosterone meets Technology 47 12. Free Market Utopias vs Irreversible Tipping Points 53 13. Resilient Genetics vs Ephemeral Corporations 54 14. Corporate Killers and Downsizing Profitability 56 15. Political Genocide and Corporate Metamorphosis: Where have all the Cod Gone? 57 16. Hooker Chemical and the Rape of the Love Canal 61 17. Abysmal Discord: Deepwater Horizon 66 18. We All Fall Down: Ecological Economics vs Machiavellian Intelligence 75 19. Ecologizing Capitalism: Company Incorporation as a Conservation Investment 79 20. References 86 Twin Pillars with Feet of Clay in a One-Sided Love Affair The twin pillars of Western civilization are capitalism -
Page 01 Feb 12.Indd
ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Home | 2 Business | 21 Sport | 31 H H Sheikha Moza bint Qatar Exchange logged Qatar sports star Nasser Nasser officially opened its longest winning Saleh Al Attiyah has been Qatar Biobank’s new streak in the year by elected as a member of facility at Hamad Bin extending the rally to ISSF Athletes Committee Khalifa Medical City. eighth straight session. for a four-year period. THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2015 • 23 Rabial II 1436 • Volume 19 Number 6339 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 OPINION SCH warns of Emir meets Iraq President Unity against Boko Haram action against HE danger of Boko Haram is no longer con- Tfined to Nigeria as this organisation is actively involved in terror- Seha misuse ist acts in many neigh- Expats to be covered by end of 2016 bouring countries. DOHA: The Supreme Council manipulate the system. The fraud It has of Health (SCH) has warned was detected while the company become the public and health care was conducting regular audits on a threat providers against misuse of invoices. One case has already not only the national health insurance been referred to the SCH and to the Dr Khalid Al Jaber scheme (Seha) saying it has reports about the second and security detected three cases of sus- third cases are being prepared. and stability of the African pected fraud until now. If the SCH investigation con- continent but the entire world. The National Health Insurance firms a violation of the law, action Boko Haram is the African Company (NHIC) managing Seha will be taken immediately including The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with President of the Republic of Iraq, Dr Fuad Masum, at the affiliate of Al Qaeda like the has launched a campaign “Kun closure of the facility or other legal Emiri Diwan yesterday. -
Following the Money: Lessons from the Panama Papers Part 1
ARTICLE 3.4 - TRAUTMAN (DO NOT DELETE) 5/14/2017 6:57 AM Following the Money: Lessons from the Panama Papers Part 1: Tip of the Iceberg Lawrence J. Trautman* ABSTRACT Widely known as the “Panama Papers,” the world’s largest whistleblower case to date consists of 11.5 million documents and involves a year-long effort by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to expose a global pattern of crime and corruption where millions of documents capture heads of state, criminals, and celebrities using secret hideaways in tax havens. Involving the scrutiny of over 400 journalists worldwide, these documents reveal the offshore holdings of at least hundreds of politicians and public officials in over 200 countries. Since these disclosures became public, national security implications already include abrupt regime change and probable future political instability. It appears likely that important revelations obtained from these data will continue to be forthcoming for years to come. Presented here is Part 1 of what may ultimately constitute numerous- installment coverage of this important inquiry into the illicit wealth derived from bribery, corruption, and tax evasion. This article proceeds as follows. First, disclosures regarding the treasure trove of documents * BA, The American University; MBA, The George Washington University; JD, Oklahoma City Univ. School of Law. Mr. Trautman is Assistant Professor of Business Law and Ethics at Western Carolina University, and a past president of the New York and Metropolitan Washington/Baltimore Chapters of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He may be contacted at [email protected]. The author wishes to extend thanks to those at the Winter Conference of the Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group (ASIL) in Miami, January 13–14, 2017 who provided constructive comments to the manuscript, in particular: Eva Anderson; Bruce Bean; Ashleigh Buckett; Anita Cava; Shirleen Chin; Stuart H. -
The Data Journalism Handbook
THE DATA JOURNALISM HANDBOOK Towards a Critical Data Practice Edited by Liliana Bounegru and Jonathan Gray 1 Bounegru & Gray (eds.) The Data Journalism Handbook “This is a stellar collection that spans applied and scholarly perspectives on practices of data journalism, rich with insights into the work of making data tell stories.” − Kate Crawford, New York University + Microsoft Research New York; author of Atlas of AI “Researchers sometimes suffer from what I call journalist-envy. Journalists, after all, write well, meet deadlines, and don’t take decades to complete their research. But the journalistic landscape has changed in ways that scholars should heed. A new, dynamic field—data journalism—is flourishing, one that makes the boundaries between our fields less rigid and more interesting. This exciting new volume interrogates this important shift, offering journalists and researchers alike an engaging, critical introduction to this field. Spanning the globe, with an impressive variety of data and purposes, the essays demonstrate the promise and limits of this form of journalism, one that yields new investigative strategies, one that warrants analysis. Perhaps new forms of collaboration will also emerge, and envy can give way to more creative relations.” − Wendy Espeland, Northwestern University; co-author of Engines of Anxiety: Academic Rankings, Reputation, and Accountability “It is now established that data is entangled with politics and embedded in history and society. This bountiful book highlights the crucial role of data journalists -
Democratic Information in an Age of Corporate Power
14 09/2016 N°14 Democratic Information in an Age of Corporate Power Democratic Information in an Age of Corporate Power The Passerelle Collection The Passerelle Collection, realised in the framework of the Coredem initiative (Communauté des sites de ressources documentaires pour une démocratie mondiale– Community of Sites of Documentary Resources for a Global Democracy), aims at presenting current topics through analyses, propos- als and experiences based both on field work and research. Each issue is an attempt to weave together various contribu- tions on a specific issue by civil society organisations, media, trade unions, social movements, citizens, academics, etc. The publication of new issues of Passerelle is often associated to public conferences, «Coredem’s Wednesdays» which pursue a similar objective: creating space for dialogue, sharing and build- ing common ground between the promoters of social change. All issues are available online at: www.coredem.info Coredem, a Collective Initiative Coredem (Community of Sites of Documentary Resources for a Global Democracy) is a space for exchanging knowl- edge and practices by and for actors of social change. More than 30 activist organisations and networks share informa- tion and analysis online by pooling it thanks to the search engine Scrutari. Coredem is open to any organisation, net- work, social movement or media which consider that the experiences, proposals and analysis they set forth are building blocks for fairer, more sustainable and more responsible societies. Ritimo, the Publisher The organisation Ritimo is in charge of Coredem and of publishing the Passerelle Collection. Ritimo is a network for information and documentation on international solidarity and sustainable development. -
Kristof Clerix
Kristof Clerix Kristof Clerix, Belgium, works as an investigative reporter for the Belgian weekly news magazine Knack. He specialises in security related topics. Clerix has worked as a journalist in Belgium since 2002. After two years freelancing for the Belgian daily De Morgen, he joined the team of MO*, a Belgian monthly magazine on international affairs. There he reported from more than 40 countries, including Albania, Armenia, the Baltic States, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Morocco, the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, the disputed region Transnistria and Ukraine. He has written substantially on security topics such as terrorism, international police cooperation, intelligence, NATO, EU defense policy, drug smuggling, human trafficking, illegal arms dealing, nuclear proliferation, city gangs, energy and pipelines, geopolitics and frozen conflicts. In 2006, Clerix wrote the book "Vrij Spel", on the activities of foreign secret services operating in Belgium, host country to the NATO headquarters and European institutions. His second book, "Spionage. Doelwit: Brussel", on Cold War espionage was published in 2013. Clerix is regularly contacted by international media to comment on the Belgian security apparatus. He wrote several contributions for The Guardian, on the fight against terrorism in the heart of Europe. In 2013 Clerix joined ICIJ. He contributed to Lux Leaks, Swiss Leaks, Evicted and Abandoned, the Panama Papers and Bahamas Leaks. Clerix has represented ICIJ at several international conferences, organised by Europol, the European Parliament, and the Financial Transparency Coalition. In 2016 Clerix started working for the news magazine Knack, focusing on international muckracking. Next to ICIJ collaborations, Clerix worked on several other cross border investigative projects, including the MEPs project and Security For Sale.