Financial Transparency Coalition

Last week, Task Force member Global Financial Integrity hosted a panel discussion to discuss Laurence Cockcroft's new book, Global Corruption: Power, Money, and Ethics in the Modern World. Panelists include Cockcroft, GFI and Task Force Director Raymond Baker, Center for Concern President Les Myers, and Fairfax Group CEO Michael Hershman. Cockcroft is a prominent development economist, and a founding member of Transparency International-UK.

In today's issue, the Economist published a fantastic 14-page special report on the shadow financial system and the crime, corruption, and tax dodging that it facilitates. The report included numerous citations of Task Force members Tax Justice Network and Global Financial Integrity, as well as strong arguments in favor of Task Force recommendations for automatic exchange of tax information and the elimination of anonymous shell companies.

President Obama’s State of the Union address this week included an impassioned argument for a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction; meaning that spending cuts should be coupled with revenue increases. Many Republicans disagree—arguing we should cut spending while leaving taxes at their current rates. The bright line between taxes and spending is, in fact, not so bright. One obvious example is tax expenditures—government spending through the tax code, also called loopholes. In some ways tax expenditures are good; for example, they can be used as incentives to encourage corporate and private behavior that provides a social benefit. On the other...

There is big news today on both sides of the Atlantic for campaigners – including ONE – in the Publish What You Pay coalition for transparency in oil, gas and mining. The major Norwegian oil company Statoil has withheld their support from last-ditch attempts to overturn the new US rules on transparency, and a former Shell executive has declared his support for similar laws in Europe.