Financial Transparency Coalition

While I personally loathe the hit song “Billionaire,” I do believe its message and popularity may provide some insight into today’s American society. Hopefully not much. The song, performed by Travis Mccoy, depicts a young man who wants to be a billionaire “so freaking bad.” Much of the song is about some form of philanthropy; the singer wants to give away presents like Opera, do more than FEMA did for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and give money to those he loves. Although he also wants to “see his name in lights” and visit a different...

The talk of the week has been about Bono. Specifically, the chatter is over the Global Fund, a massive multilateral organization that provides development aid to poor countries for fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Fund, which in its lifetime has disbursed about $13 billion to 150 developing countries, is backed by several celebrities, including Bill and Melinda Gates, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, and rock-star Bono. Bono believes in the Fund so fervently that in 2006 he created global brand Product(Red), which partners with major corporations including American Express, Gap, Converse, Starbucks, Apple, Dell and Hallmark. These...

On Sunday Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti. “Baby Doc” took office as Haiti’s President (read: brutal dictator) when his father, “Papa Doc,” died in 1971. He was 19. What followed was a violent fifteen year rule, characterized by government-led kidnappings, tortures, and murders, and—by the estimates of human rights groups—the theft of $300 million of dollars from the nation’s treasury. Duvalier fled to France in 1986 to escape a revolt and has lived in exile ever since. Well, until last Sunday, when he unexpectedly returned to Haiti. Duvalier has hardly spoken for himself in public...

Today Global Financial Integrity released a much-needed update report called “Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2000—2009.” The paper notes “illicit outflows increased from $1.06 trillion in 2006 to approximately $1.26 trillion in 2008,” with annual illicit outflows from developing countries averaging $725 billion per year between 2000 and 2008. As I’ve noted, that’s over 3,000 McDonald’s apple pies for every American man, woman, and child. Outflows from China alone account for a significant chunk of that $725 billion, actually about a third, or $266 billion. Together the top ten countries (China, Russia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia,...