3 ms·

How much of the world's wealth is hidden offshore?

3 points by goodcanadian 9y ago

mikhailfranco 9y ago
The article totally confuses the concepts of income and wealth, especially in the title. If your country of tax residence does not tax wealth, then moving wealth outside the country should have no legal or moral implications. Some countries make tax residents declare wealth, even if they don't tax it (0% bands), just so they could tax or seize it when they really need the money. US citizens and residents face a dramatic escalation of the problem, with civil asset forfeiture and the global pretensions of the IRS. Really - why do Americans, who mythically revolted against the Brits for a small tax on tea, put up with this total abuse of power? If Musk ever makes it to Mars, the IRS will go interplanetary. There is no discussion of the fragility and insolvency of the western banking system, which might lead one to move wealth 'offshore', which just means 'somewhere else'. Debt is soaring in almost every sector of the western world, and at some point the defaults will crush one/many/all of those financial systems. No mention of Greece, Cyprus and bail-in laws that might make it prudent to keep some money outside the place you live. Western 'social democracies' allow electorates to vote for welfare, bloated public sectors and tax cuts (or at least no tax rises), with the result that all their governments are completely broke. They will try to steal your wealth through ZIRP, NIRP, QE and inflation, but in the last resort they will just come after it, wherever they can find it. Any government that is strong enough to give you anything you want, is also strong enough to take everything you have.
- mikhailfranco 9y ago
  > If Musk ever makes it to Mars .... The first thing he should do is set up the solar system's first 'offplanet' bank - perhaps First Mars Bank, or Red Planet Bank, or Planet 4 Bank. He should buy the .mars TLD and assign himself fmb.mars, rpb.mars and p4b.mars and ... Then there will be the inevitable MOXY (Mars Oxygen), Ice Mine to produce water (an almost-pun on a famous Vonnegut sci-fi book) and the Red Dirt Mining Co., which will presumably excavate a lot of iron ore. He will need a bitcoin mining site, or perhaps create his own Mars Coin. Eventually he will need to hire lots of Starship Troopers to fight off the invasion of giant IRS tax-collecting insectoids.

3 points by goodcanadian 9y ago

The article totally confuses the concepts of income and wealth, especially in the title. If your country of tax residence does not tax wealth, then moving wealth outside the country should have no legal or moral implications. Some countries make tax residents declare wealth, even if they don't tax it (0% bands), just so they could tax or seize it when they really need the money. US citizens and residents face a dramatic escalation of the problem, with civil asset forfeiture and the global pretensions of the IRS. Really - why do Americans, who mythically revolted against the Brits for a small tax on tea, put up with this total abuse of power? If Musk ever makes it to Mars, the IRS will go interplanetary. There is no discussion of the fragility and insolvency of the western banking system, which might lead one to move wealth 'offshore', which just means 'somewhere else'. Debt is soaring in almost every sector of the western world, and at some point the defaults will crush one/many/all of those financial systems. No mention of Greece, Cyprus and bail-in laws that might make it prudent to keep some money outside the place you live. Western 'social democracies' allow electorates to vote for welfare, bloated public sectors and tax cuts (or at least no tax rises), with the result that all their governments are completely broke. They will try to steal your wealth through ZIRP, NIRP, QE and inflation, but in the last resort they will just come after it, wherever they can find it. Any government that is strong enough to give you anything you want, is also strong enough to take everything you have.

mikhailfranco 9y ago
> If Musk ever makes it to Mars .... The first thing he should do is set up the solar system's first 'offplanet' bank - perhaps First Mars Bank, or Red Planet Bank, or Planet 4 Bank. He should buy the .mars TLD and assign himself fmb.mars, rpb.mars and p4b.mars and ... Then there will be the inevitable MOXY (Mars Oxygen), Ice Mine to produce water (an almost-pun on a famous Vonnegut sci-fi book) and the Red Dirt Mining Co., which will presumably excavate a lot of iron ore. He will need a bitcoin mining site, or perhaps create his own Mars Coin. Eventually he will need to hire lots of Starship Troopers to fight off the invasion of giant IRS tax-collecting insectoids.