Singing for Obama by Simon Sweetman
Your favourite contributor for 2008 watched the inauguration of President Obama. Simon Sweetman is pondering the future of tax havens, and wonders whether time is running out for them?.
It was quite an impressive list of performers who turned out for Barack Obama for the celebrations before his inauguration (even if I hadn’t heard of the younger ones). Some, one suspects, were there from conviction, some because they wanted to be seen in the right place at the right time.
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No he wasn't
No I wasn't there
But I was in Washington the week before, laying the groundwork
You don't think I'd miss a trick do you?
A MORE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE
Simon misses a more fundamental issue on taxation. Having seen how all of their hard-earned tax dollars have now been handed over to high-on-the-hog, bonus protected bankers, how can Obama - or indeed Gordon Brown - persuade the average man on the street to keep paying the current levels of tax ? It was possible to cajol the majority of the population into going along with the system as long as politicians could point to hospitals, school and sound infrastucture. However, with Citigroup having to be forced to forego a new $50 million jet, despite their puiblic bail out , everyone is now asking themselves : " Is this really what I am working and paying tax for ? ".
Tax havens are the least of his problems.