Shopping around
UNFAIR and harmful are words often used about their competitors by people who can- not compete. It is harder than it was, though, for high-tax countries to make their writs run and collect their revenues. Goods, ser- vices, money and information now move freely across frontiers and the revenues move with them. We as taxpayers are cus- tomers for the services that governments provide, and it is natural and healthy that we should shop around. Indeed, it is inherently likely that we know better than governments how our money should be spent. That these havens can prosper shows that there is a demand for their services, and that the OECD's cartel should try to bully them must be a mark of their success. Equally, if the cartel's members were serious about tax avoidance, they would begin by economising on the OECD.
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