As leaks of confidential documents go, the Panama Papers dwarf past disclosures. The story isn’t new: rich people use offshore shell corporations to avoid taxes. But the detail is stunning. And there is reportedly much more coming over the next month.
Enough documents to fill six hundred CD’s leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca reveal the dark money dealings of world leaders, celebrities and dozens of Fortune 500 billionaires. More than 370 journalists from more than 70 countries are following up on leads using corporate filings, property records, financial disclosures, court documents and interviews with money laundering experts and law-enforcement officials.
A much ‘smaller’ story impacting a much larger number of people in the US appears today in the Washington Post (via the Center for Media and Democracy) showing internal polling commissioned by Chambers of Commerce revealing a large majority of business owners being supportive of increasing minimum wages, paid sick leave and other reforms. [Read more...]
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