Showing posts with label offshore financial centres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label offshore financial centres. Show all posts

September 28, 2017

You redistribution profiteers: There’s very little cash in “cash”; and wealth is mostly just frozen purchasing power

Sir, Eric Platt writes about “the lack of detail…typical of the 30 large US-domiciled companies analysed by the FT that hold more than $10bn of cash and other securities on their balance sheets”, “Patchy disclosure gives investors little to chew on” September 28.

The article should help to indicate to you how little real cash there really is in all that cash to which so many, time after time, including FT, have referred to in terms of that it should be repatriated, so as to put to better use.

As we can see, the fact is that most of the $262bn of cash and cash equivalent held by Apple has already been deployed, one way or another; which means that even if Apple does not use it for its own purposes, that does not mean it is not being used by others for other purposes.

Sir, the whole very valid debate about offshore wealth and growing inequality, would be greatly sanitized by the acceptance of the facts that there is very little cash in “cash”; and that wealth is mostly just frozen purchasing power.

Perhaps then we would also be allowed to discuss such political incorrect issues such as what assets would not exist but because of great wealth and great inequalities.

Then perhaps we could at last focus more on the much more important cause of fighting unproductive unequal wealth creation, than about how to getting our hands on wealth after it has been created.

Unfortunately the redistribution profiteers, those who need to instigate hate against wealth and inequality in order to maximize the value of their franchise, will fight tooth and nails in order to stop such debate taking place.


@PerKurowski



April 16, 2016

Tett, get it! What is stashed away in offshore centers, is mostly titles of ownership to onshore assets

Sir, Gillian Tett writes: “Four years ago, activists’ group… claimed that some $21tn-$32tn was being stashed in offshore centres, but it had no real way of verifying the numbers. With the Panama Papers being studied, more precise figures could emerge — and with that the ability to compare them with the overall picture of global banking.” “Our mental map of the banking world may be about to flip” April 16. 

Does Tett really think that $21tn-$32tn could be stashed in offshore centers? Has she ever heard of banks in offshore centers to be jointly as large than perhaps all the 15 largest non-Chinese banks put together? Does she not realize that Mossack Fonseca is just a big law firm?

In truth, save perhaps one apartment here, or some yacht there, nothing real is stashed away in Panama or other offshore centers. What is stashed away there though, are titles of ownership over assets stashed away primarily in the developed world. It could be deposits at Citibank, a title over a flat in London, stock certificates or whatever.

The whole affair reminds me of the confusion about Eurodollars that made many sudden-experts believe in the existence of some autonomous dollars traded in Europe. What was traded, were all dollar deposited in the USA. That had started in the late 50s when Russia, scared of the possibilities of having their dollars confiscated, had a British chartered bank take over its dollar deposits in the USA, against a “Eurodollar” deposit of Russia in the British bank.

But does it all not sound nice? Over there are $21tn-$32tn stashed away, and so if only we got it back, we would all be so much better off. Sir, Tett is unknowingly helping to feed that cheap populism that has all redistribution profiteers salivating. I truly think we all deserve better.

PS. Does this mean I condone less than anyone else those criminal activities that might often be behind the hiding of the real ownership of assets? Of course not! And you know it!


@PerKurowski ©

March 05, 2009

I will gladly trade you one Basel Committee for a hundred of offshore financial centres.

Sir Avinash Persaud is absolutely right when he writes “Look for onshore, not offshore scapegoats”. The damage produced by the onshore enclave we know as the Basel Committee and all its regulatory derivatives, has caused hundredfold more misery than all offshore financial centres put together.
This does of course not imply that I would not like to trade away the financial centres too.