Financial Transparency Coalition

Yesterday ActionAid released a new report, detailing how tax changes being brought forward in the Budget could result in tax losses of £4 billion a year for poor countries and £1 billion for the UK. These changes will make it much easier for multinational companies to use tax havens to dodge their bills, particularly in the developing world.

The list of four-letter words in frequent use by policy makers in Washington, Brussels, and other government capitals dealing with potential fiscal insolvency has no doubt grown steadfastly in recent months. And perhaps the dirtiest, most toxic of those words is also the most innocuous: debt. Indeed, talks of an American default earlier last month and the real danger of a Greek withdrawal from the Euro zone have called for strong reevaluation of the balance between government spending habits and revenue sources on both sides of the Atlantic. On the latter point, the issue has brought long-deserved attention...