Financial Transparency Coalition

On a large scale, corruption undermines development and democracy, exacerbates poverty, erodes civil society, stifles social services, and worsens public health. When it involves cross-boarder flow of money, it is damaging to economies not just because of the underlying corrupt acts, but also because it deprives the country of both public and private resources—including financial capital—that might otherwise be diverted to productive activities. Most of the corruption that we talk about on this blog and in the general dialogue about corruption and economic development—concerns this sort of large-scale corruption. But there is another kind of corruption that is often overlooked:...

Task Force Director Raymond Baker spoke to MBA students at Georgia Tech (his alma mater) earlier this month, as part of their IMPACT speaker series. Previous speakers have included such prestigious names as Warren Buffett and Vice President Al Gore. He begins by explaining how illicit financial flows hurt the developing world, as well as the scope and scale of the problem. Raymond then asks the future business leaders in the audience to think about global inequality and their role in the world. He contrasts the humanizing philosophy of Adam Smith with the hard utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham.

Latindadd and other civil society organisations recently sent their contributions to the UK parliamentary inquiry into tax in developing countries. In its call, the International Development Committee of the UK parliament highlighted that “developing countries lose an estimated $ 160 billion each year through tax avoidance by multinational companies (including those based in the UK)” and the important role of the extractive industries, “where payments to governments are often not disclosed and may not contribute to development or poverty reduction.”

The March edition of Taxcast, a podcast by Tax Justice Network