The Super Rich Are Hiding $21 Trillion in Tax Havens
A new study <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097">estimates that the "global super-rich elite"</a> are hiding at least $21 trillion in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. And that number is just cash, like real dollars, and doesn't account for real estate or property that would bolster a rich person's net worth.
James Henry wrote <a href="http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload/pdf/The_Price_of_Offshore_Revisited_Presser_120722.pdf">The Price of Offshore Revisted</a> for the Tax Justice Network. Using data from "Bank of International Settlements, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and national governments," Henry came to the $21 trillion figure after guessing it might be even higher. He called $21 trillion a conservative estimate and said the figure might be closer to $32 trillion. As <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097">the BBC notes</a>, that's more than the U.S. and Japanese economies combined.
Somewhere, Mitt Romney is preparing a statement saying <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/07/romney-campaign-shocked-democrats-would-question-offshore-accounts/54303/">he's not a member of the "global super-rich elite."</a> Nope, not a member at all. Doesn't know what you're talking about. </p>
SOURCE: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/07/super-rich-are-hiding-21-trillion-tax-havens/54874/
