The jewel in the crown of Samizdata.net
A blog for people with a critically rational individualist perspective. We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR
[Russ.,= self-publishing house]
There is much to find for those who look
We are not alone
Made possible by...
 
June 18, 2004
Friday
 
 
The Organization for Political Collusion and Despoliation
Brian Micklethwait (London)  Globalization/economics

I recommend this article about the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

It reminds us here, if any of us need reminding, that even if we do manage to shake our country loose from the EU, there is still a ghastly alphabet soup of international organisations lying in wait for us.

Representing mostly high-tax European nations, the OECD thinks it is unfair when jobs and investment move from high-tax to low-tax nations. The bureaucrats are particularly upset that so-called tax havens provide a refuge for oppressed taxpayers from welfare states like France, Germany, and Sweden. As part of its anti-tax competition project, the OECD met in Berlin for a two-day conference during the first week of this month, hoping to bully tax havens into helping high-tax nations track and tax flight capital.

Using various threats, the OECD is pushing low-tax countries into providing information about nonresident investors to foreign tax authorities, meaning that any benefit of investing elsewhere disappears once European tax collectors can impose taxes on money invested outside their borders.

Acting as the Gambino family of the tax world, the OECD has pressured places like Anguilla and Panama to sign "commitment letters" pledging to participate in something called "information exchange" – an odd term for a one-way flow of data from "tax havens" to high-tax governments.

The writer of this, Joel Mowbray, focuses on the US contribution of $50 million per annum to this evil enterprise. But what this makes me think of is the fact that, following their recent electoral success, Britain's UKIP is now being challenged by its enemies to work out some other policies, besides merely saying a big NO to the EU. And I say to such challengers, be careful what you wish for.

Comments

Brian,

On the other hand, the Europe is resisting the movement of criminals from low-punishment regimes to high-punishment regimes. EU countries therefore are becoming a crime-haven, if you will.

See my post on The Acorn(Link)


Posted by Nitin at June 19, 2004 04:09 AM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?


Enter anti-spambot Turing code:





Select some text and click this to format it as a quote Make the selected text bold Make the selected text italic Add a web link


Basic html active.

Alas, but for obscure reasons Mozilla, Mac and Linux users shall not harness to power of the push-button formatting options and shall therefore compose basic html with their bare hands. Yet Mozilla, Mac and Linux users shall not fear, for we shall reveal forthwith the mysteries of Basic Html:

<strong>This text in-between is bold</strong>

<em>This text is in italics</em>

And
<blockquote>This is a quote</blockquote>
Remember to close your opened tags as such: <tag> tagged text and closing </tag> and we promise you will get out of here alive.

For adding links, either use the link URL button on the toolbar or enter your code by hand in the following format:
<a href="http://www.your_link.com">your link text or description here</a>

Movable Type's anti-spambot e-mail address protection is enabled.

You are a guest on private property. Have fun but please be civil and succinct. Blogroaches will be persecuted, not to mention IP banned.

Long third party quotes or articles will also be deleted... so just link to articles you think are germane to your comment, don't quote the whole bloody thing.