22 April 2016

Rajiv Servansingh: The Great Panama Hypocrisy

The greatest features of the immediate post World War II world economic history had been the great “decolonization” movement and the “swinging 60s” which marked the beginning of almost thirty years of constant economic growth in the most developed countries. This was then followed by the frenzied globalization of the world economy driven by developments in communication and travel technologies and the neo-liberal credo of free market ideology.

Excerpts:
Offshore financial centres have an important role to play in the present and future global economic paradigm. Small islands and developing countries which use their resources to position themselves as providers of legitimate and transparent (subject to international norms) services to a community of increasingly demanding but willing clients should be left to carry out their business without undue pressure... 
The OECD club of rich nations would do well to look into their own backyard before raising a hue and cry and accusing all “offshore financial centres” of being the den of crooks. The underlying Euro-centred sense of high moral grounds and resulting preconceptions and suspicion towards these entities (read the OXFAM papers) deserves to be censured without reserve. As The Guardian wrote recently even while commenting on the Mossack Fonseca affair, ‘Using offshore structures is entirely legal. There are many legitimate reasons for doing so...’
Mauritius Times 

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