So, HMRC think they're hard done to...

[xoggoth]

As doodab said.

People should keep most of the rewards for their own efforts but inequality goes well beyond that. Having perhaps earned their wealth they then manipulate the systems in ways not open to ordinary people to accumulate more.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Those who run the show have to consider the well being of everybody and society as a whole. Questioning social structures that encourage the accumulation of wealth by the already wealthy while leaving the poor poor is hardly "envy", it's common sense.

There is also quite a lot of evidence that wide and widening inequality in a society has a strong negative effect on the wellbeing of the rich as well as the poor, so taking measures to curb the inequality benefits everybody, although those who value only money rarely see that.

Aha - I was being a tad facetious when I made that statement - then again I was trained to say at interviews that I do favour policies that reward the rich and punish the poor ...what say we bomb Algeria next - with that terrible dictator whatshiname ... or maybe Egpyt with that dictator whatshisname ...


This is a world destruction. Your life ain't nothing.
The human race is becoming a disgrace.

The rich get richer.
The poor are getting poorer.

Fascist, chauvinistic government fools.
People, Moslems, Christians and Hindus.
Are in a time zone still searching for the truth.

Who are you to think you're a superior race?
Facing forth your everlasting doom.

We are Time Zone.

We've come to drop a bomb on you.

[doodab]

Aha - I was being a tad facetious when I made that statement - then again I was trained to say at interviews that I do favour policies that reward the rich and punish the poor ...what say we bomb Algeria next - with that terrible dictator whatshiname ... or maybe Egpyt with that dictator whatshisname ...


This is a world destruction. Your life ain't nothing.
The human race is becoming a disgrace.

The rich get richer.
The poor are getting poorer.

Fascist, chauvinistic government fools.
People, Moslems, Christians and Hindus.
Are in a time zone still searching for the truth.

Who are you to think you're a superior race?
Facing forth your everlasting doom.

We are Time Zone.

We've come to drop a bomb on you.

I did wonder, it was rather out of character for you.

[sasguru]

Having perhaps earned their wealth they then manipulate the systems in ways not open to ordinary people to accumulate more.

DO they? How?
How do you manipulate the system in ways not open to ordinary people? Give some examples.

[doodab]

DO they? How?
How do you manipulate the system in ways not open to ordinary people? Give some examples.

Ooh, how do big companies and the rich people who own and run them influence government policy? In the public eye it's done by owning the media and manipulating public opinion, by paying lobbyists, by threatening to move operations overseas or promising to do things that will benefit some local area or another in return for political support from the local representatives on other issues. Behind closed doors who knows what goes on, you can't seriously believe that the "old boys network" and similar concepts don't play a part.

Some examples would be the tabacco industry fighting bans on advertising and selling to minors, the US auto industry fighting anti emissions legislation, the various PFIs which made someone a fortune, persistent threats from the likes of HSBC to relocate overseas and so on.

[DimPrawn]

Globalisation. Hire the cheapest workers, pay corp tax in the countries with the lowest rates.

London Loses Out as Banks Consider Booking Trades Overseas - Bloomberg


Banks in Europe are exploring ways to cut costs by routing more of their trades and other business through overseas subsidiaries, a plan that may shift tax revenue away from London and loosen European regulators’ influence over the lenders.

Nomura Holdings Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and UBS AG (UBSN) are among lenders preparing plans to book as much business as possible through legal entities in jurisdictions where tax rates are lower and rules on capital and liquidity are less onerous, the banks and lawyers and accountants working with them say.

“Every bank is trying to work out the best way to be structured under the new rules,” Chris Matten, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Singapore, said in a telephone interview. “It’s not just a question of what activities banks are in. It’s about which entities they put that business through and in which jurisdictions.”

Banks could record as much as 30 percent of the value of their trades through Hong Kong, Singapore and other jurisdictions instead of hubs such as London and New York without running into trouble with regulators, Matten said. Such a move would hurt traditional hubs such as London because assets are treated for tax and regulatory purposes in the country where they are booked. It would also allow banks to sidestep the U.K. bank levy, introduced last year to raise 2.5 billion pounds ($4.1 billion) from lenders operating in Britain, as well as any financial transaction tax imposed by the European Union.