Issue 416 of New Internationalist

Reader-owned global journalism

October 2008

Tax justice

As globalization goes mental and public funds prop up the world’s banks, this month New Internationalist uncovers the global tax scandal - and suggests where justice might lie.

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In this issue

  • Tax will, sooner or later, have to follow the environmental agenda. *Nicola Liebert* reports on mixed experiences so far, even in Germany. *Top dodger*: The British Monarchy
  • A history of the eternal fate of taxation: to be the abused or abusive means towards noble or ignoble ends, never quite able to escape its association with extortion and war.
  • As the UN goes in search of more funds to eliminate poverty, *David Hillman* reckons he knows where they’re hiding. *Top dodger*: Tesco
  • *David Ransom* listens to the false notes being played by an orchestra of financial instruments. *Top dodgers*: Bono, Rupert Murdoch.
  • The measure of just tax is the ability to pay. The world’s tax system today is unjust, shifting the burden from rich to poor – and failing altogether to address the green agenda. Here are the facts and figures.
  • Women who love women still leads to suicide pacts in India, often burning themselves to death. But in the wake of a groundbreaking film, lesbians are asserting themselves more – and seeing some encouraging signs of change, as *Nick Harvey* reports.
  • *Nick Harvey* explains the background on gay rights – and then talks to lesbian activists about a cause that is beginning to catch fire.
  • Tanzania is home to the highest point in Africa as well as to Olduvai Gorge, where some of the oldest human remains have been found. It also contains most of the Serengeti region, which hosts a dazzling array of animal, bird and plant life.
  • Where there’s a tax there’s a revolt.