Offshore Finance: The Socio-Economics of a Global System
细分领域
Inequality: What forms of inequality do the use of offshore finance by wealthy individuals create, and through what mechanisms? For example, how are political and economic inequalities shaped by the increasing use of offshore by elites from the BRICS nations and the Middle East?
Secrecy: How can Simmel’s theory of secrecy and its role in wealth accumulation be employed to explain the offshore financial system, including its persistence despite decades of policy efforts to curtail or dismantle it?
Networks: How do networks—among people, organizations, and states—affect the resilience of offshore financial systems and their power to shape the global political economy? We construe this term broadly to include everything from dynastic families to concatenations of shell companies, trusts, and foundations.
Elites: Has use of the offshore financial system become a defining characteristic of elites globally? To what extent does offshore link and/or divide elites?
History: How have varieties of colonialism and other historical path dependencies shaped the current form and functioning of the offshore financial system? What does this history suggest about future developments?
Politics: How is the offshore financial system linked to political transformations? Examples include the rise of China and movements such as populism and the libertarian project to exit from the nation-state model.
Development: How are countries, especially in the global South, affected by offshore finance? Is there a role for offshore finance as an alternative development institution, as part of a turn away from the global North? Reflections on this topic can include both countries that have become offshore centers themselves, as well as those affected by others’ offshore activities.
Law and international relations: In what ways does the offshore financial system affect the rule of law and the balance of power among nations? What is the role of offshore in testing ideas about globalization, de-globalization, and fragmentation?
Professions: How do professionals and professional service firms—such as in law, accounting, public relations, and corporate services—facilitate the creation and maintenance of offshore structures?
