Illuminating Dark Corners – IMF F&D
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: GITA BHATT
- Published: September 1, 2019
Overview
- F&D Magazine issue titled "Illuminating Dark Corners" (GITA BHATT, September 2019) focuses on the "dark web of secret transactions" that enable tax evasion and avoidance, money laundering, illicit financial flows, and corruption.
- Framing metaphor: a Sufi parable to illustrate searching where it is easiest to look; advocates "shine a spotlight" (sunlight as disinfectant) on hidden transactions to reveal systemic problems and remedies.
Scale and impact
- Bribes: "$1.5–$2 trillion" change hands every year.
- Tax evasion: "costs governments more than $3 trillion a year."
- Societal impact: lost funds that could finance health care, education, and infrastructure for millions; corruption "distorts incentives and undermines public trust in institutions" and is "the root of many economic injustices young men and women suffer every day."
Analyses and perspectives (contributors and core notions)
- David Lipton: governance as a core notion for addressing hidden transactions.
- Paolo Mauro and others: how countries can combat graft by
- putting in place accountable institutions,
- improving government budget transparency,
- exchanging financial information across borders.
- Jay Purcell and Ivana Rossi: analysis of trade-offs between the need for transparency and the right to privacy.
- Nicolas Shaxson: argument that tax havens "have a stake in curbing evasion."
- Aditi Kumar and Eric Rosenbach: advocacy for "closer cooperation among law enforcement, financial institutions, and regulators."
Policy recommendations and actions highlighted
- Strengthen domestic governance through accountable institutions.
- Improve government budget transparency.
- Exchange financial information across borders to trace illicit flows.
- Balance transparency with privacy rights—recognize and manage trade-offs.
- Engage tax havens in efforts to curb evasion.
- Foster closer cooperation among law enforcement, financial institutions, and regulators for detection and enforcement.
Cross-border collaboration and broader implications
- Hidden transactions are not confined to a single nation; they require both strong domestic policies and international cooperation.
- Payoffs from addressing these problems extend beyond recovered revenues to "myriad other political, economic, and social benefits," including reducing inequality.
Illuminating Dark Corners — F&D Magazine; GITA BHATT; September 2019.
Content in this bundle
- A los lectores ● Finanzas y Desarrollo ● Septiembre de 2019
- Éclairons les recoins sombres de l’économie
- Illuminating Dark Corners – IMF F&D
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