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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsConfessions of a Panama Papers hit man
By John Perkins
The Panama Papers should be no surprise. I was there in the 1970s, when the system theyve exposed was set in motion. As an Economic Hit Man (an EHM), I helped forge this global economy that is based on legalized crimes. Its a system in which 62 individuals have as much wealth as half the worlds population, and a handful of the super-rich control governments around the globe. Big corporations benefit from infrastructure and social services without having to foot the bill. Instead, average US citizens pay for it with their hard-earned tax dollars, while the very rich and their corporations shelter their incomes in tax havens like Panama.
The foundations for Panama as a tax shelter go back to 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt fomented a rebellion to wrest Panama from Colombia so the US could build the Panama Canal. J.P. Morgan and Company became the new countrys official fiscal agent. Soon Panama passed laws allowing John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil Company to register its ships there, avoiding U.S. taxes and regulations and Panamanian tax shelters were born.
I was sent to Panama to convince then-head of state Omar Torrijos to stop insisting the US turn canal ownership over to Panama, and to soften his support for Latin Americas nationalistic movements. Torrijos would not yield on the canal. But he did let his country become a tax haven for international corporations. He told me, If your country is determined to exploit mine, the least I can do is help your corporations avoid paying taxes that support the CIA and Pentagon!
MORE HERE: http://yonside.com/confessions-of-a-panama-papers-hit-man/
The Panama Papers should be no surprise. I was there in the 1970s, when the system theyve exposed was set in motion. As an Economic Hit Man (an EHM), I helped forge this global economy that is based on legalized crimes. Its a system in which 62 individuals have as much wealth as half the worlds population, and a handful of the super-rich control governments around the globe. Big corporations benefit from infrastructure and social services without having to foot the bill. Instead, average US citizens pay for it with their hard-earned tax dollars, while the very rich and their corporations shelter their incomes in tax havens like Panama.
The foundations for Panama as a tax shelter go back to 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt fomented a rebellion to wrest Panama from Colombia so the US could build the Panama Canal. J.P. Morgan and Company became the new countrys official fiscal agent. Soon Panama passed laws allowing John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil Company to register its ships there, avoiding U.S. taxes and regulations and Panamanian tax shelters were born.
I was sent to Panama to convince then-head of state Omar Torrijos to stop insisting the US turn canal ownership over to Panama, and to soften his support for Latin Americas nationalistic movements. Torrijos would not yield on the canal. But he did let his country become a tax haven for international corporations. He told me, If your country is determined to exploit mine, the least I can do is help your corporations avoid paying taxes that support the CIA and Pentagon!
MORE HERE: http://yonside.com/confessions-of-a-panama-papers-hit-man/
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Confessions of a Panama Papers hit man (Original Post)
LuckyTheDog
Apr 2016
OP
malaise
(269,054 posts)1. Ding ding we have a winner
Truth will out
haikugal
(6,476 posts)2. K&R! Thanks Lucky!
AxionExcel
(755 posts)3. K & R
2naSalit
(86,646 posts)4. K&R.
cprise
(8,445 posts)5. This guy deserves a lot of credit
No pun intended.
LuckyTheDog
(6,837 posts)6. Yes, he does
I hope many more come forward.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)7. Looks like Miami, only bigger. Lot of the same $.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)8. Kicked!