Last week, Gottfrid Svartholm was arrested. Again. If that name rings a vaguely Scandinavian bell, it’s because he’s the co-founder of Pirate Bay. Pirate Bay, founded less than 10 years again in Sweden, made news over the past ten years for its controversial – and generally illegal – file-sharing practices. Specifically, Svartholm and his co-founder…
In this era of offshore accounts and banking secrecy, you can’t turn sideways without hearing someone call for more transparency. I get it – I believe that transparency is generally a good thing, especially in government. But how much is too much? The Norwegians have made news for their “skatteliste,” or “tax list” which includes…
The crackdown on tax evaders who depend on Liechtenstein in order to shield income has escalated. Nine countries from the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD), Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Sweden, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, have reportedly received and are examining information on Liechtenstein accounts from two banks. The Bundesnachrichtendienst…
Naming a baby can be controversial. Trust me. I have three children and everyone seems to have an opinion as to whether each name suits the baby, whether it makes sense, whether it’s too ethnic, whether it’s not ethnic enough… And all three names are perfectly “normal” – whatever that means. Not a Django, Brittnee…
Today is Tax Freedom Day in Israel. Tax Freedom Day marks the day of the year that a country, as a whole, has theoretically earned enough income to meet its tax burden. In the US this year, Tax Freedom Day fell on April 30, two days later than in 2006. India celebrated earliest this year,…