Summary: Relevant Reading: Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens Nicholas Shaxson The Much-Too-Special Relationship Nicholas Shaxson Russias Output Will Slump Sharply in 2015 Anders Åslund Good afternoon, podcast listeners! This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we bring you a real treat of a podcast. First, author Nicholas Shaxson stops by to participate in a fascinating discussion of the role tax havens play in todays globalized world. He notes that the United States itself has some characteristics of a tax haven, and tells of a global race to the bottom as various states try to out-compete one another in favorable tax codes that lure multinationals. Then, Anders Åslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, looks at the economic crisis descending on Russia. He describes how the plunging price of oil, Western sanctions, and domestic market inefficiencies and corruption are all combining to drastically lower Russias GDP in 2015, and paints a grim picture of the countrys foreseeable economic future. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and follow our host Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.
