Tax Havens

This book provide an up-to-date evaluation of the role and function of tax havens in the global financial system—their history, inner workings, impact, extent, and enforcement. They make clear that tax havens have a major impact on the global economy.

Ronen Palan is Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of The Offshore World: Sovereign Markets, Virtual Places, and Nomad Millionaires, also from Cornell. Richard Murphy is CEO of Tax Research, LLP, based in the UK. He is a frequent adviser to the media, NGOs, and politicians, and writes a blog at taxresearch.org.uk. Christian Chavagneux, based in Paris, is deputy editor in chief of Alternatives Economiques and editor of L'Economie politique.

If you are looking to understand how tax havens and offshore financial centers work, how they are governed (or not!), and what kind of economic and political impacts they have, then this book is for you! This recent text by well-recognized experts in the field is a most welcome addition to the literatures.... It fills an important void, since there was not until now a general but nevertheless detailed reference text on tax havens... it should be mandatory for courses in IPE, international finance, and international business.

Benjamin J. Cohen, Louis G. Lancaster Professor of International Political Economy, University of California, Santa Barbara:

This book is an invaluable guide to the lightly studied subject of tax havens. Clearly written and thoroughly researched, it vividly demonstrates how central the scattered archipelago of so-called Preferential Tax Regimes is to the operation of contemporary global finance. Tax Havens belongs on the shelf of every specialist in the international political economy of money.

James K. Galbraith, author of The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too:

This book calls attention to one of the major scandals of our time.

John Christensen, Director, Tax Justice Network International Secretariat, London:

Impeccably researched and packed with new insights, this groundbreaking book exposes financial capitalism's best-kept secret.