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    Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson Summary

    Treasure Islands
    Nicholas Shaxson
    4.19 (1916 Reviews)
    Finance
    Economics
    Politics
    Overview
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    Overview of Treasure Islands

    Uncover the shocking world where $1 in aid meets $10 in offshore flight. "Treasure Islands" exposes the hidden network enabling global inequality, praised by Nicholas Stern as "deeply shocking" and deemed "perhaps the most important UK book" by The Guardian's George Monbiot.

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    The Shadow Economy That Rules the World

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    Imagine a world where trillions of dollars flow invisibly through a network designed to help the privileged escape taxes and accountability. This isn't fiction-it's our reality. Over half of world trade passes through tax havens, along with half of banking assets and a third of multinational investments. The offshore system isn't just about tax avoidance-it offers wealthy elites secrecy and escape routes from laws governing ordinary citizens. These jurisdictions provide near-zero taxes, excessive secrecy, and outsized financial sectors while "ring-fencing" their own economies from the harmful services they offer others. What makes this system truly insidious is how local politics in these places becomes captured by outside financial interests, creating zones of "ultra-freedom" for the wealthy that are often repressive toward critics. Here, turning a blind eye to crime becomes good business, while whistleblowing becomes punishable. This inverted morality has reshaped global finance, allowing the privileged to play by different rules while everyone else bears the burden.

    2

    The British Spider's Web of Financial Secrecy

    3

    From Regulated Prosperity to Offshore Chaos

    4

    Wall Street's Escape from Regulation

    5

    America's Transformation into Offshore Haven

    6

    The Devastating Human Cost

    7

    Reclaiming Our Economic Future