Do Gillian Tett and other really believe that ever-growing offshore cash piles, is cash stashed away under mattresses?

Sir, Gillian Tett writes: “overseas profit piles have swelled — to more than $2tn”; and from there she jumps to: “in the real world introducing a repatriation deal — even at a mere 10 per cent — would almost certainly be better than the dismal status quo: a world of ever-growing offshore cash piles, transatlantic tax battles and lousy infrastructure does not suit anybody.” “The clampdown on tax inversions is only a start” April 8.

But Vanessa Houlder informs: “Over $1tn of cash has been booked offshore, even if the money is held in US banks or Treasury bonds.” “Tax havens seen as ‘grease on wheels’ of cross-border trade” April 8.

All those “overseas profit piles” have, in some way or another, already been deployed and so, to redeploy these, means having to liquidate their current positions.

What if the “more than $2tn” had all been invested in public debt and you repatriated all of it and the government got a 10 percent cut on it?

Then of course governments would owe ‘more than $200bn’ less, but if they for instance wanted to better any “lousy infrastructure”, then they would have to sell fresh public debt in the market. And, since the stockpile-holders have been diminished, that would most certainly imply having to pay higher interest rates. That is of course, unless governments are not assisted by banks holding it against zero capital requirements, or central banks buying up public debt for the governments own “stockpiles of cash”.

It is amazing the kind of demagoguery that is floating around. It is dangerously divisive. At the end of the day what it really comes down to, is who is going to decide on how any accumulated wealth is to be redeployed, whether the private or some government bureaucrats.

I truly believe that current governments waste, represents much more lost value than what is inappropriately or illegally diverted into these oh-so-horrible “stockpiles of cash”. And so I would like to see the expected repatriation profiteers kept at bay. Perhaps all citizens in some Universal Basic Income/Wealth scheme could share the governments’ cut of any repatriated assets?

And by the way, what are we to do with Putin’s “stockpiles of cash”, those that might be fully invested in the US? Send it back to Russia to Mr Putin?

Do these comments mean that I condone what distorts or what is illegal? Of course not! All tax systems should be improved and all taxes should be paid! There are occasions though in which I find it quite relevant to ask: How much failed nation or tyrannical government is needed for citizens’ capital to be granted immediate asylum?

For access to confidential private Swiss banks accounts, why not “wealth asylum”, something like political asylum?

Sir, John Gapper writes “there are decent reasons apart from tax evasion, or even legal tax avoidance, for the wealthy to put money in Swiss banks”, yet he with reason asks “the rich”, whether that is “any way to behave”, since doing so they will “resemble money launderers”, “Private banks must be more than laundries” February 12.

But Sir, why should a rich have to give up his private Swiss bank account if his reasons are decent?

It seems that what could be needed is something like a Swiss government office where a person can go and request “wealth asylum”. He would there of course have to present reasonable evidence of his source of wealth not being illegal.

If granted, such asylum would offer special confidentiality rights, which would be guaranteed for as long as the Swiss government does not receive substantial proof that shows the application contained major falsehoods.

If Robin Hood could hide in Sherwood Forest why can’t wealthy hide in private banks? I mean let us be frank; there are many bad Sheriffs of Nottingham out there.

If persons are allowed to carry guns against bandits, why not, in these Piketty days, can the wealthy carry private Swiss bank accounts against some overly greedy government bureaucrats?

And sometimes even if its not all "legal": If a poor North Korean managed to evade paying taxes and escape with some money, should not his capital have right to anonymous asylum?

But why on earth should you think about putting the burden to decide about what’s decent and what’s is not, on a small bank clerk who might rarely been out of his country?

PS. Am I wealthy? No! But just like for instance a shoe-artisan in Milan knows it, I know that the higher the number of wealthy around me, the more likely I am to be better off… and so, sometimes, though not too frequently, I also have to think a bit about how to keep the wealthy wealthy. If you have to be a servant, then most often, though not always, you are better served having to serve a wealthy master.

I am very suspicious of those who seem wanting to promote shared poverty… because quite often it sounds like their populist business plan for trying to become very wealthy themselves. And I do oppose the redistribution profiteers

PS. But then, now and again, I get hit by the thought: "If the wealthy could not safeguard their wealth in other countries, then perhaps they would make a stronger stance and defend their wealth more in their own country". And that sometimes could be what is really most needed.

Capitals of ordinary citizens should also have rights to political asylum.

Sir I refer to your “Close the account on Swiss secrecy” February 28. If I wanted to be politically correct, I guess I would have to loudly shout out a “Hear, hear!”

BUT, I need to add that in the same vein there is political asylum granted for people being persecuted in their homeland, there should also be asylum rights granted to capital when these are being persecuted, beyond reason. Otherwise the closing down of a possibility to hold secret accounts seems a bit like a wet dream of a Global Sheriffs of Nottingham mutual admiration club.

I have no firm idea of how to go about it, but perhaps there could be a Global Council of Citizens, in front of which a citizen could anonymously make a specific country based appeal. When? Perhaps when taxation becomes too high, let us say over 50%; when the government role in the economy becomes too high, let us say 40% of GDP; or when there are notoriously public displays of government waste.

But of course, the capitals of anyone who has held a government office within a period, like for instance the last 20 years, should possess no such rights.

Really, is there anything to be gained by retaining all capitals of all citizens in a country, if all that means is that the capital gets all wasted?

I remember when my country, Venezuela, in February 1983 woke up to a huge financial disaster, mainly as a consequence of the government having acquired too much debt and keeping the Bolívar from devaluing too long. At that moment most politicians swore that the cause of it all was capital flight, and this even when they all must have known that had there been no capital flight, it would all have been wasted. The truth is that the capital reserves built up abroad by some Venezuelans, by quite a few in fact, then allowed Venezuela to recover fairly fast from the disaster… unfortunately only to start the buildup of the next one.

Also, FT, do you really want to close Switzerland down as a haven for secret capital flight when that might only mean promoting other deeper and darker havens?

PS. Granted you might not really know what it is to be living in countries like Zimbabwe.

PS. I recently ended and Op-Ed in my country with the following PS: “In a country in which all those here described injustices are committed, and many more, and on top of it all they print out monstrous amounts of inorganic Bolivars without caring about the inflation that will cause, one could ask: Is not capital flight sometimes a citizen's moral obligation… towards his own nation?