Hardly surprising to The Gadfly, but still appalling when viewed in the context of human morality and decency:
A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study.
The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined.
The Price of Offshore Revisited was written by James Henry, a former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, for the Tax Justice Network.
Tax expert and UK government adviser John Whiting said he was sceptical that the amount hidden was so large.
Mr Whiting, tax policy director at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said: "There clearly are some significant amounts hidden away, but if it really is that size what is being done with it all?"
Mr Henry said his $21tn is actually a conservative figure and the true scale could be $32tn. A trillion is 1,000 billion.
Mr Henry used data from the Bank of International Settlements, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and national governments.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097
The study further notes that the $21 TRillion does not include fixed assets such as real estate property and luxury possessions such as yachts and cars. It's all cold hard cash baby.
It is estimated conservatively that $300 billion alone could practically eradicate worldwide (worldwide as in the whole fucking planet) hunger over the next decade ($30 billion per year). Apparently though, the elites feel that $300 billion, which equates to approximately 1.5% of their total stash of $21 trillion, is simply way too much money to be spread around -- and money with a minimal or no ROI (Return On Investment) to boot. Oh no - can't have that - can we? Nope - they would much rather spend their "hard earned" cash buying up the millions of homes that their criminal accomplices on Wall Street and in the banking industry have foreclosed on as a result of their manufactured world wide economic "crisis." Their loot is also better spent buying the souls and the votes of the politicians and judges to clear all of the oversight and regulatory hurdles from their path so that they can consolidate their wealth and power in addition to compounding the misery and indentured servitude of the remainder of society.
The Gadfly is certain though that this form of depraved gluttony by the few cannot last forever. And while The Gadfly cannot predict when the tide will turn against these monsters, and it eventually will as history has proven over and over again, he is fairly certain of one thing -- when the time does come for these Galtian overlords, and/or their heirs, to be held truly accountable for their unforgiving viciousness toward their fellow human beings, it is likely to be one helluva bloody culmination to a long (and already bloody) history of economic iniquity and the propagation of human suffering in the never ending, psychotic pursuit of power and profit.
---TFG
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