Moneyland
by Oliver Bullough · first published 2018
81% recommend19% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains how wealthy people and companies use offshore shell firms and hidden ownership to move and conceal money. Recommended for anyone wanting to understand the system, especially the US role as a haven.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
From ruined towns on the edge of Siberia, to Bond-villain lairs in Knightsbridge and Manhattan, something has gone wrong with the workings of the world. Once upon a time, if an official stole money, there wasn't much he could do with it. He could buy himself a new car or build himself a nice house or give it to his friends and family, but that was about it. If he kept stealing, the money would just pile up in his house until he had no rooms left to put it in, or it was eaten by mice. And then some bankers in London had a bright idea. Join the investigative journalist Oliver Bullough on a journ
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…allowing the US to get info but not forced to share it. So the new way is to have a US company (from Nevada, Wyoming, etc.) with at least one foreign partner. If you’re interested in this I suggest reading Moneyland by Oliver Bullough.
on “U.S. states seek $2.2T from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma” ↗Anyone who thinks that it would be easy to raise government revenues by taxing the wealthy should read "Moneyland" by Oliver Bullough. Anyone who thinks that low tax rates on wealthy people isn't a problem should also read "Moneyland" by Oliver Bullough.
Some people have mentioned that this is a U.S incorporated company (Delaware). Recommend reading Moneyland by Oliver Bullough if you want to know more about the U.S role as the new shell company haven. The island states have been dethroned.
on “8M users' AI conversations sold for profit by "privacy" extensions” ↗There's a good book about this - 'Moneyland' by Oliver Bullough.
on “The richest man on Earth and the richest woman on Earth are both French” ↗Moneyland is a good book on this topic. Rich people (top 1%) don’t live or earn money “anywhere” anymore. There’s so much ease to global movement of capital they just move it around so they pay - no taxes - have…
on “Review of Moneyland by Oliver Bullough (2018)” ↗Treasure Islands and Moneyland[1] are both terrific books. For me it shed quite some light on post colonial finance structure which we are currently living through. History of eurodollar, pivotal (and shady) role played by Bank of…
on “Books to read to understand financial crime” ↗Give Moneyland a read/listen to if you want to go down a rabbit hole about how hard money is to track once it enters an offshore bank account. We really have an international finance issue for situations for this.…
on “Jeffrey Epstein's mystery bank came alive after his death” ↗…finance for people in oppressive countries" Yet a bigger problem is that too much money is moved out of these countries by those in power and hamstered away in various global tax havens. I recommend "Moneyland" for anybody wanting to learn more.
on “Wikipedia RFC to stop accepting cryptocurrencies passes by majority vote” ↗See also "Moneyland": https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/07/moneyland-oliv...
on “Inside the Secretive World of Tax-Avoidance Experts (2015)” ↗See also "Moneyland" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/07/moneyland-oliv... Its about the ways in which the top 0.01% hide their money in networks of shell companies, tax havens etc, and the difficulty of actually…
on “There is no 'right' vs. 'left': it is the oligarchs against the rest” ↗Yep. If you do want to hear some 'crisis' worthy numbers in a similar vein as this article I highly recommend giving "Moneyland" a chance. That's where the money laundering gets bumped up into the professional level. I am glad I listen to the audiobook but man is it disheartening to hear how bad it is globally. https://www.npr.org/2019/05/01/719001286/moneyland-reveals-h...
on “Fake-branded bars slip dirty gold into world markets” ↗If you want a peak into the playbook of these corrupt officials, read the book Moneyland. The author walks through how government officials around the world use their positions to rob their countries, he goes over how they get the money, where the money goes, the effects of kleptocracy on…
on “Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family” ↗…structure to trap tax authorities in an infinite loop trying to trace the origin. I was completely ignorant about this menace until I started reading couple of books to educate myself —- Treasure Islands and Moneyland...recommend them both. Since then I just use the term offshore to encompass any of those hundreds or so possible structures.
on “Apple surpasses Saudi Aramco to become the most valuable company” ↗Go give Moneyland a listen or read. It isn't just a new phenomenon and it's going to get worse. With enough money you can dine a la carte to whatever gives you the best options. UK libel laws being one of the better…
on “The New American Status Symbol? A Second Passport” ↗For anyone interested in learning more about the need for this, I strongly recommend Moneyland. It really does a good job leaning in on tension between (1) privacy, (2) liberty, and (3) Rule-of-Law. All three of those are good things, but they also all step on each others toes. Here's a taste:…
on “US passes anti-corruption law that effectively bans anonymous shell companies” ↗