Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism

by Brooke Harrington Narrated by Jennifer Walden

Overview

How do the rich keep getting richer, while dodging the long arm of the law? The ultra-rich seem to live in a different world from the rest of us. That world is called offshore. Hidden from view, the world's ultra-rich can use offshore finance to escape tax obligations, labor and environmental safety regulations, campaign finance rules, and other laws that get in their way.



In Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, sociologist Brooke Harrington reveals how this system works, as well as how it degrades democracy, the economy, and the public goods on which we all depend. Through interviews with dozens of wealth managers in nineteen countries, Harrington uncovered how this global network of offshore financial centers arose from the remnants of colonialism and has created a new, hidden imperial class.



This engrossing deep dive reveals what offshore finance costs all of us, and how it has colonized the world-not on behalf of any one country, but to benefit a largely invisible empire of a few thousand billionaires, who help themselves to the best society has to offer while sticking us with the bill. As politicians struggle to address the deepening economic and political inequality destabilizing the world, Harrington's exposé of the offshore system is a vital resource for understanding the most pressing crises of our time.

Editorial Reviews

Evan Osnos New Yorker staff writer and author of Wildland

"You cannot understand the world of the super-rich without reading Brooke Harrington. Literary, intrepid, and utterly original, she writes with insight and humor. Offshore is a portrait of plutocracy that is drawn not from statistics but from real-world encounters that the world almost never sees."

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

"At a time when autocracies are proliferating, and with them practices of institutionalized theft and corruption, sociologist and certified wealth manager Brooke Harrington reveals the workings of the secretive offshore system that props up autocrats and damages democracies around the world. An essential read for our times."

Gabriel Zucman

"A riveting and eye-opening dive into the offshore world by a sociologist who, through participant observation methods, has revolutionized the study of the subject. This book is a must read for anyone concerned about the future of inequality and the future of democracy."

Kirkus Reviews

2024-06-13
A Dartmouth sociology professor explores the complex, supersecret world of offshore finance.

When Harrington, author ofCapital Without Borders, began studying offshore finance in 2007, she found that almost no data existed about those taking advantage of the system. Knowing she could not directly access wealthy individuals herself, she made a plan to earn wealth manager credentials so she could access them through their financial managers. Through classwork and interviews with her colleagues-in-training, the author learned that the system was less a scheme for tax avoidance and more a “platform for an elite insurgency opposed to…equality before the law, economic stability [and] free markets.” Staying hidden is critical to the success of offshoring projects because "secrecy confers impunity.” She argues that part of what makes this system so insidious is the way it has repurposed the legal and financial infrastructure of the old imperial era for the new transnational elite. These practices have in turn transformed former poor ex-colonies like the Bahamas into law-free zones where deals that support the illegal enrichment of the already wealthy can take place. At the same time, the lure of wealth and profit have brought even rich democratic countries like the U.S. (which boasts a few of the most popular offshore centers in the world) into the plutocratic wealth management game. Apart from publicly shaming the individuals who use the system, Harrington suggests that one effective way of curbing their activities is cutting the connection between the superrich and their managers. In a world where everything else can be bought, “trust is not a commodity and cannot be purchased easily from another provider.” Intriguing and timely, this book will be of interest not only to academics, but to anyone seeking an understanding of the hidden forces behind global wealth inequality.

Illuminating, accessible reading.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191992389
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/17/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged