The Paradise Papers and America's Elite

The Paradise Papers and America's Elite

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Radio Archive, Episode 678 , Segment 1

Episode: Avoiding Taxes, Starving Education to Feed Retirement

  • Nov 9, 2017
  • 19:45 mins

Guest: Will Fitzgibbon, Reporter for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists One aspect of the Republican tax reform plan President Trump likes to emphasize is a provision that would encourage US companies to "bring back trillions" in foreign profits, which makes it sound like the foreign profits of US companies are being held hostage offshore somewhere. But that’s misleading. The companies could bring the money back anytime they wanted, they’d just have to pay corporate taxes on it. Instead, they stash it away in some of the world’s most beautiful escapes – Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Seychelles that offer pristine beaches and charge low – or even no – taxes.  More than 13 million documents have leaked from some of the law firms that help companies do that. They’ve been dubbed the Paradise Papers and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is coordinating reporting on them.

Other Segments

Starving Education to Feed Retirement

16m

Guest: Richard Vague, Managing Partner, Gabriel Investments, Author, “The Next Economic Disaster”  When you’re cutting up a pie, and you’ve got more people to serve than you expected, one solution is to make each piece a little smaller, right? But what if you already promised someone a certain-sized slice and if you try to trim it a bit you’re gonna have a ruckus at the table? Well, then you’ll probably have to make the rest of the slices even smaller.  This is the situation state and local governments across the country find themselves in. They’ve guaranteed to fund pensions for government employees and Medicaid, and as those costs grow, who gets a smaller piece of the pie? Mostly education and infrastructure. That shows in America’s deteriorating roads and bridges and the poor international ranking of our school system.

Guest: Richard Vague, Managing Partner, Gabriel Investments, Author, “The Next Economic Disaster”  When you’re cutting up a pie, and you’ve got more people to serve than you expected, one solution is to make each piece a little smaller, right? But what if you already promised someone a certain-sized slice and if you try to trim it a bit you’re gonna have a ruckus at the table? Well, then you’ll probably have to make the rest of the slices even smaller.  This is the situation state and local governments across the country find themselves in. They’ve guaranteed to fund pensions for government employees and Medicaid, and as those costs grow, who gets a smaller piece of the pie? Mostly education and infrastructure. That shows in America’s deteriorating roads and bridges and the poor international ranking of our school system.