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There are several problems with this concept, the first of which has been mentioned several times - that rich entities not paying tax is one of the root problem
by vacri 12y ago
There are several problems with this concept, the first of which has been mentioned several times - that rich entities not paying tax is one of the root problems in Greece in the first place.
Other problems include that laws can always be amended. A law is only as hardy as your next election, and once Greece gets the money, you have no further leverage. We saw that happen at the last election, with the current government throwing out the previous government's solution to the problem.
Another issue is that without significant reform of government and some changes in society, Greece will end up in exactly the same place if it goes back to 'business as usual' - something which would be very easy to do if bailed out by an entity that has no future leverage.
Similarly, first-world countries with decent economies are doing their utmost to reverse the trend of tax havens, and if Greece did this, they would suffer politically in other ways as a result.
Edit: And then, of course, there is the question: Why would Apple spend $100B to secure a tax haven for themselves? Not only are there already quite a few tax havens to choose from, including in Europe, but if they turned around and decided to pay their fair share of domestic taxes, it'd take quite a while before their tax load would match their $100B in cash. Who knows what the world would look like then?