13 TRILLION

Wow.

A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax rules to hide an extraordinary £13 trillion ($21tn) of wealth offshore – as much as the American and Japanese GDPs put together – according to research commissioned by the campaign group Tax Justice Network.

We all knew that tax evasion was a serious problem, but this is just fucking ridiculous.  Just what could we do with that money?¹  How many hungry could be fed, how many sick treated, how many educations provided?  Pick your social worry of choice, and wonder what could be done with a little wisdom.  But no, it's more important that a billionaire keeps an extra million.

I'm reminded of a comment I saw a few years ago, in response to one of the standard cliches that asking the rich to pay their fair share is class warfare.  This is class warfare, launched by the rich, and right now they are winning.

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^{1. Okay, in practice governments would probably blow it all on military hardware, but let me fantasize for a moment.↩}