It's Important, But Not Enough

 A few years ago, the Panama Papers shocked/did not shock the world with an entirely predictable story about wealthy people around the world hiding wealth in offshore accounts and trusts. Now, we appear to have chapter two of that saga with the Pandora Papers. 

This is a multi-story report created by a combination of reporters and news services around the world and represents the finest in investigative reporting. Additional reports will come out all week.

The reality is that these reports will only add details and color to a reality we already know: there are different rules for the global rich. After the Panama Papers, some reforms were implemented, but trying to regulate global finance in an age when wealth can move around the world at the speed of light is effectively impossible.

Most of the prominent political figures in the story are not from the United States. For all the caterwauling about "corruption" in Washington, the American political system is fairly "clean" from a global perspective. Trump does represent an outlier in this regard, but his corruption and tax evasion predate his emergence as a political figure. 

The Post story notes that the richest Americans do not appear in the story, primarily because American tax codes are already so favorable to great wealth. Also, a billionaire might want to skirt the law and a multibillionaire has no need to. One promise the story makes is to examine increasing instances of states like South Dakota acting as tax havens for the rich.

The solution is evident for both stories. The idea that South Dakota, Delaware or Nevada can act as onshore tax havens needs to be addressed with national legislation. Trying to do the same for internatioal actors is harder. As the Panama Papers incident exposed, it's possible to fix one problem, but new problems will inevitably arise. Some of the solutions will only apply to G20 countries, because the very people interested in stopping this corruption are the ones who benefit from the current system.

As America considers higher tax rates on the wealthy, enforcement mechanisms are absolutely necessary to make sure that those taxes get collected.

This, frankly, is bullshit and needs to be squashed.