Vexed Bermoothes

World leaders have whipped up a frenzy against the so-called “tax havens”.  I suppose it’s their way of keeping the wingnuts busy, and diverting any embarrassing questions about their own complicity in the economic meltdown.  It’s the equivalent of Bermuda’s own bullets-in-the-mail, rubber checks, racist dogs, Beyoncé’s coming, and plantation questions.

Take this fine rant:

But what reason other than evasion could there be for Goldman Sachs Group to set up three subsidiaries in Bermuda, five in Mauritius, and 15 in the Cayman Islands? Why did Countrywide Financial need two subsidiaries in Guernsey? Why did Wachovia need 18 subsidiaries in Bermuda, three in the British Virgin Islands, and 16 in the Caymans? Why did Lehman Brothers need 31 subsidiaries in the Caymans? What do Bank of America’s 59 subsidiaries in the Caymans actually do? Why does Citigroup need 427 separate subsidiaries in tax havens, including 12 in the Channel Islands, 21 in Jersey, 91 in Luxembourg, 19 in Bermuda and 90 in the Caymans?

This spit-frothing populism will hurt their own companies who need to compete internationally.  Sure, there is work to be done on international regulatory frameworks and transparency, but don’t believe for a minute that it’s a good idea to reduce jurisdictional competition.

So for every American who gets worked up about “offshores stealin’ our gosh darn tax dollars” … I’d like to remind you that there’s a Californian who should be asking why so many of their corporations are registered in Delaware.  Same principal, chums.  I don’t hear many people calling for regime change in Vice President Joe Biden’s hometown.