The Shadow Banking System: A Third Of All The Wealth In The World Is Held In Offshore Banks

The Economic Collapse ^ | 12/30/2010 | Michael Snyder

[SeekAndFind]

The USA was able to bully Switzerland into revealing the names and accounts of thiusands of Wealthy Americans who put their money in Swiss Banks.

What’s to stop Uncle Sam from doing the same to these other places?

[Hodar]

The Shadow Banking System: A Third Of All The Wealth In The World Is Held In Offshore Banks

The title then says, essentially that 66% of the World's Wealth is in the US Banking system? I find that a little hard to believe.

[SeekAndFind]

thiusands thousands

[GeronL]

“Offshore” is still part of this world. Weird title.

[Blind Eye Jones]

According to Glenn Beck and other sources, 1% of the wealthiest people pay 40% of all monies the government gathers from taxation. Who are you going to believe?

[Lurker]

A recent article in the Guardian stated that a third of all the wealth on the entire globe is held in offshore banks and that the vast majority of international banking transactions take place in these tax havens....

There's a lesson in here. Leave it to the geniuses at The Guardian to miss it completely.

[SeekAndFind]

According to this Forbes article :

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0719/opinions-taxation-tax-havens-banking-on-my-mind.html

“there is $15 trillion to $20 trillion in private wealth sitting offshore in bank accounts, brokerage accounts and hedge fund portfolios, completely untaxed.”

This Guardian Article :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/28/protests-tax-havens

states:

“On a conservative estimate, a third of the world’s wealth is held offshore, with 80% of international banking transactions taking place there. More than half the capital in the world’s stock exchanges is “parked” offshore at some point”.

This article :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/05/offshore-tax-havens

States:

“offshore capitalism ate our economies – and itself”

[struggle]

What concerns me is when all those millionaires filter hundreds of thousands of $199 donations to a one Vera Baker, sitting pretty in the Cayman Islands / Martinique.

To Obama.

[NeoCaveman]

According to Glenn Beck and other sources like the IRS, 1% of the wealthiest people highest income earning Americans last year pay 40% of all monies the government gathers from taxation income tax receipts for last year. Who are you going to believe?

[ctdonath2]

The wealthy you refer to do not have a cumulative net worth exceeding federal revenue.

As the article indicates, before any such pressure tactics could be implemented, the money would already be gone.

[FromLori]

“What’s to stop Uncle Sam from doing the same to these other places?”

Probably the money they donated to obama/barney frank/chris dodd and the rest of his minions is my guess.

[FromLori]

I like Glen Beck but...

Middle Class—Not the Rich or the Poor—Pay Majority of Federal Taxes, Says CBO Data

http://www.cnsnews.com/node/68094

[mas cerveza por favor]

Many of them live in a world where they simply do not pay income taxes.

But I am sure they pay far more than their share in political campaign bribes.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The Alternative Minimum Tax was going to fix this by making the rich pay "their fair share."

But now the AMT mainly hits the middle class.

All class-warfare is ultimately directed at the middle class.

[dfwgator]

The Alternative Minimum Tax was going to fix this by making the rich pay "their fair share." But now the AMT mainly hits the middle class. All class-warfare is ultimately directed at the middle class.

Exactly!

[Zakeet]

Nobody knows for sure how much money big governments around the globe are missing out on from all this tax avoidance, but everyone agrees the number is huge.

The idiots.

Of course companies and individuals park money in tax haven countries. You would too if you were wealthy enough.

The problem with the U.S. taxing the funds is that they have no legal right to do so any more than, say, the Russians or Chinese, have to impose their taxes on income earned by Americans in the United States.

Cut tax rates to more reasonable levels and you will see more repatriated earnings.

[palmer]

The sole purpose of bullying Switzerland was to get them to devalue their currency. The island banks are accountec in dollars and a completely different situation. One banks in Switzerland to keep the value of one’s money stable over decades. In island banks, it’s mostly carry trade and other speculation, all short term.

[Niuhuru]

This is just a beginning of a propaganda campaign to convince epople that confiscating the wealth of these account holders is justfied.

[DannyTN]

"The title then says, essentially that 66% of the World's Wealth is in the US Banking system? I find that a little hard to believe."

Me too. The article also seems to consider wealth to solely consist of cash in bank accounts. Completely ignoring non-cash assets.

And it seems to assume that all large corporations and rich individuals manage to complete avoid paying any tax at all. While there are tax dodges available to the rich, I doubt that most can complete avoid tax year after year.