by Press TV interview 9/10/2021 The Pandora Papers have been much debated these days as they exhibit the huge networks through which the rich and the powerful hide and transfer their mainly ill-gotten wealth. Press TV asked me to give an interview on this. The main points of my intervention follow. The Pandora Papers, capitalist tax evasion and intra-imperialist rivalries Leaks like the Pandora Papers (and other previous similar ones) show that the capitalist class and its political representatives are forfeiting the very rules they themselves set. That is they engage in full-scale tax-evasion and tax-avoidance and they are using special purpose vehicles like the offshore ‘paradises’ and complex financial and legal arrangements in order to move and hide their wealth.There is
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Press TV interview
9/10/2021
The Pandora Papers have been much debated these days as they exhibit the huge networks through which the rich and the powerful hide and transfer their mainly ill-gotten wealth. Press TV asked me to give an interview on this. The main points of my intervention follow.
The Pandora Papers, capitalist tax evasion and intra-imperialist rivalries
- Leaks like the Pandora Papers (and other previous similar ones) show that the capitalist class and its political representatives are forfeiting the very rules they themselves set. That is they engage in full-scale tax-evasion and tax-avoidance and they are using special purpose vehicles like the offshore ‘paradises’ and complex financial and legal arrangements in order to move and hide their wealth.
- There is a long-running fusion between capitalists and their political representatives: the latter become capitalists and active capitalists become politicians. And, of course, they perform the same illegal or semi-illegal practices of tax-evasion and tax avoidance. At the same time the working-class and the other popular classes cannot hide their meagre earnings and contribute disproportionately heavy in taxes.
- The anglo-saxon countries (UK as a front and US) lead in this trend of tax evasion and tax avoidance by capitalists and their politicians but they are closely followed by other mainly Western countries
This is facilitated by their dominance on the global financial system.
Therefore, most of the offshore paradises belong to them or are under their control.
Consequently, they benefit the most from these flows of illegal or semi-legal funds.
Given the British tradition in the financial system (coming form their previous status of capitalist super-power and some other reasons and exemplified by the importance of the City), most of the offshore ‘paradises’ are under British jurisdiction.
But on top of these, the US usually use the UK as a front for their own activities.
- Revelations like the Pandora Papers etc. are not themselves innocent. Indicatively, the Pandora Papers include many Russians, Chinese or persons against which the anglo-saxon axis has grudges but almost no Americans. It is as if the US ruling class is perfectly legal!!
Hence, there is good reason to suspect that they are the product of secret services operations. Of course, other sides use similar tricks. These leaks are part of the intra-imperialist rivalries.
