The OECD recently published its own list of 35 tax havens, a pressure tactic that helped persuade the Caymans, Cyprus, Bermuda and several other countries to change policies. Leading the charge against tax cheats is France, which is tired of seeing its citizens dodge the tax man by funneling money to nearby countries such as Switzerland, Monaco and Luxembourg. French pressure helped persuade the European Union last week to enact new rules against tax evasion. The amazingly quick success of the anti-corruption campaign shows what is possible when the leaders of the global economy decide to take a problem seriously. Until recently the crooks had seemed to be gaining the upper hand, with criminal syndicates from Russia to Latin America looting their countries and stashing the money in secret accounts.
Crime is still rampant around the world.
But in a global economy, where every bank must be connected to the electronic central nervous system or die, it is going to be a lot harder for the pirates to hide. The Washington Post.