22 October 2008 - 21H32
- economy - financial crisis - taxes

Should tax havens be banned? (part 2)
The France 24 debate focuses on tax havens. How far should Europe go to limit or even terminate their existence of? (part 2)
By Andrea SANKE (text)

Click here to watch part 1 of the debate

 

How far should Europe go to limit or even terminate the existence of tax havens?

 

If it were up to countries like France and Germany, Europe would go all the way - beginning with adding what they have labled uncooperative countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg to a blacklist and issuing punishment for maintaining tax haven status and banking secrecy laws.

 

Britain and several other leading economies have backed the call. Were they right to do so? Are tax havens to blame for part of the current global financial crisis? Do tax haven countries have an unfair, arguably illegal economic advantage over their non-haven counterparts?

 

Or are they being used as a scapegoat for financial leaders who are at a loss to control their own struggling economies?

Andrea Sanke's guests are :
Jean Merkaert, advocacy officer on financing for development, CCFD, the Catholic Committee against Hunger and for development.
Daniel Mitchell, senior fellow at the CATO Institute.

Andreas Missbach, head of the Private Finance Program for the Berne Declaration.

Alex Cobham, an econometrician at Oxford University with the Oxford council of good governance.

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