Have you heard the name Thomas Piketty?

Feb 14, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Do you know Harvard University Press has published countless scholarly works since it was founded in 1913? Some of the world’s earth shattering academic texts have been published by Harvard University Press.
My favourite Harvard University Press publication is “The Idea of Justice” by Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen. This philosophical work exceeds the arguments contained in what is regarded as the best philosophical work of the 20th century – John Rawls’ “The Theory of Justice.”  I think every judge, politician, public service employee, army and police chief and those who want to see justice prevail in the world and how justice should be distributed should read Sen’s breathtaking work. This is a fantastic book.
Do you know which scholarly book has sold the most for Harvard University Press since the printery started churning out books in 1913? It is “Capital in the 21st Century” by French academic, Thomas Pikkety. Not very often a scholarly text makes it on the New York Times but Piketty made it in a big way.
Piketty’s book is a crusading critique of the flaws of modern capitalism. An extremely hard book to read because of the profusion of technical details, Piketty shows where capitalism went wrong and how bestially unequal as an economic system it has become. Piketty warns that unless European and American and other world leaders take an honest look at capitalism and see the disastrous cul-de-sac it is in, the world will be in turmoil.
One of Piketty’s recommendations (and here is where there is a connection to the overall themes of Rawls and Sen) is that the role of taxes can help to lessen the cruel inequalities of capitalism. Piketty’s book is still making stirs around the world and it being meticulously read by Prime Ministers and Presidents. In the middle of the Piketty phenomenon comes the HSBC scandal.
HSBC is the world’s second largest bank. Before we come to the HSBC infamy that is engaging the attention, particularly of President Obama let us look at a particular incident in Greece. The Finance Minister of France, Christine Lagarde sent a list of 1991 names to the Greek Government of tax evaders whose money was in Swiss accounts.
Do you know Harvard University Press has published countless scholarly works since it was founded in 1913? Some of the world’s earth shattering academic texts have been published by Harvard University Press.
This was at a time when the bitterest medicine the IMF could have dished out to any country since the IMF was born was given to Greece. The Greek people had their savings in the banks washed out, their pensions washed out, their very livelihood threatened but two thousand rich Greeks were robbing the Treasury. When a journalist published the Lagarde list, he was charged. No one from the Lagarde list was even visited by the police.
The Lagarde list is in the news once more. A whistle blower from HSBC in Switzerland, Herve Falciani, has given the world’s top newspapers a plethora of data on how the Swiss branch of HSBC has advised thousands of business people, arms dealers, dictators, drug barons, sports and entertainment stars how to hide their money and evade hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes. Falciane is referred to in the press as the financial version of Edward Snowden.
The HSBC scandal has made Thomas Piketty into an instant global hero. Soldiers from the US and Europe are going over to Asia to fight wars with military resources that are scarce, risking their lives for their country only to find out that the wealthy classes are not paying their nationalist dues.
Will these tax evaders be arrested? It is doubtful. One of the claims many alienated supporters of Obama have made against him is that he was too lenient on corporate America that violated American financial laws. Many of these corporate investors have violated US laws in criminal ways that should have carried jail time.
From the UK across the sea to mainland Europe right into the heart of the US, there are governmental cutbacks on state services because of shrinking finance but billions of dollars are neatly stacked away in Switzerland, billions that belong to the treasury of both the US and Europe.
In international relations today, there isn’t a textbook that would classify Switzerland as a rogue country but that is what Switzerland has always been. Its banks hide dirty money. What is the difference between a country where a government benefits from the cocaine trade and a government that prospers from hiding dirty money?
Maybe Switzerland is too European and white to be classified as a rogue nation. That term is reserved only for the non-white Third World. The HSBC renegade behaviour is under study by the American and British governments.  Are white collar criminals too rich to go to jail?

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