Why international organisations continue to chase the chimera of poverty!

At the beginning of October 2021, the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) published the Pandora Papers – leaked data on how the world’s very rich hide their wealth in tax havens. The practice is perfectly legal, but less so when it is used to avoid or evade tax. In both cases, it is money that remains hidden, and not only skews the statistics – according to Tax Justice between $20–30 trillion US dollars remain hidden from the tax authorities – but also causes financial problems for national governments. According to the South Centre, the States are missing out on some US$500 billion to US$600 billion US dollars annually due to corporate underpayments.

All this data once again points to the festering wound of inequality in the world. It receives far less international attention than poverty because it is a problem with major political implications. While poverty makes people suffer, inequality tears apart and divides societies, and makes them powerless.

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Wall Street International Magazine