A new study shows that the super-wealthy of the world have an estimated 21 trillion dollars hidden in secret bank accounts around the world. This is more that the gross domestic products of the US and Japan combined. YOUR money may not be real, but THEIRS is (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to these shows)
Much of this money is hidden illegally under the laws of the many countries whose economies are being exploited, including desperate economies such as Italy, Spain and Greece.
In the Guardian, Heather Stewart quotes economist James Henry as saying that their wealth is "protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy.
"The problem here is that the assets of these countries are held by a small number of wealthy individuals while the debts are shouldered by the ordinary people of these countries through their governments."
Stewart quotes tax reformer John Christensen as saying, "These estimates reveal a staggering failure: inequality is much, much worse than official statistics show, but politicians are still relying on trickle-down to transfer wealth to poorer people."
She quotes a spokeswoman for UK Uncut who says, "(Rich people) use public services– they need the streets to be cleaned, people need public transport to get to their shops–but they don’t want to pay for it."
Are they fooling us? Stewart quotes Christensen as saying, "People on the street have no illusions about how unfair the situation has become."
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