The topic of
discussion for this Freedom Friday concerns the Panama Papers and the effects
of the dealings revealed in them. The
Panama Papers are “leaked confidential documents from a law firm in Panama,”
and they “exposed how some of the world’s most powerful people were said to
have used offshore bank accounts to conceal their wealth or avoid taxes.”
The people named in the leak may
or may not have broken any laws, but the leaks are already causing problems for
them. According to Liam Stack, the following actions have taken place:
. “Relatives of President Xi
Jinping of China and two other members of the Communist Party’s most powerful
body were linked to offshore companies incorporated by the Panamanian law firm,
Mossack Fonseca.
. “On Wednesday, the Swiss
authorities raided the headquarters of the Union of European Football
Associations.
. “The prime minister of
Iceland, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, stepped aside on Tuesday.
. “Gonzalo Delaveau Swett, the
president of Transparency Chile, a branch of a global anti-corruption group,
stepped down on Monday.”
James M. Roberts of The Heritage Foundation looked at the Panama Papers in a
slightly different way.
“As
The Atlantic has reported,
`[d]isclosures from the Panama Papers are rocking the global political elite.’ Although not all of the activities alleged in
the papers may ultimately be determined to be unethical or illegal, it is
instructive to look at the connections between many of the people named in the
papers and the scores of their countries of origin on The Heritage Foundation’s
`Index of Economic Freedom’ corruption indicator.”
Mr. Roberts then proceeds to
name Pakistan, Russia, and Ukraine and how those nations rate on “freedom from
corruption” on The Heritage Foundation’s “Index of Economic Freedom.” Maybe nations would have more economic
freedom if they had more honest leaders.
What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment