Tax Justice is the best friend free markets have

Richard Murphy has written an excellent article on the blog of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic development, with the above headline.

We won't reproduce it all here - read the whole thing, because it's worth it. We will just provide the conclusion, which we'd wholeheartedly agree with.

"Why do so many, who claim to believe in free markets, support the use of tax havens? As I noted at the outset, there is only one explanation. These people are not telling the truth when they claim they believe in free markets. They do instead believe in the maintenance of privilege. They do that to sustain their monopolies. They do that to sustain their exploitation of ordinary people in developing countries. They do that to avoid their obligations to societies around the world. But this exploitation is utterly inconsistent with the potential for the creation of well-being that free markets have to offer in partnership with well funded, effective states.

It may be a surprising conclusion for some, but the Tax Justice Network may be one of the strongest supporters of the benefits of free markets that there is. And so am I. And I challenge anyone to disagree."