The leakage of wealth from poor countries through tax evasion, money laundering and other misdeeds is becoming an ever bigger worry for those who want poor countries to get rich. Global Financial Integrity calculates that such "illicit financial flows" have increased sharply over the past decade and may now be $1 trillion a year or more. Even experts who question the campaigning group's methodology accept that outflows probably exceed incoming aid and investment combined. Big rich countries often accuse small offshore financial centres, such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands, of acting as willing conduits for dodgy money. The minnows say they are being bullied: big hypocrites should clean up their own acts first. This case is bolstered by a damning report on its own members by none other than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd), a Paris-based club of industrialised countries.
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