Welcome, Mr. Carney and Mr. Jenkins.
In a time of crisis, clear answers help people understand issues that are actually quite complicated. The last time we had the pleasure of meeting, Mr. Carney, our topic was tax havens. You were telling us about what you called “aggressive tax planning”.
I wonder if you could give us more details about that because, since we last met, the OECD has published quite an alarming figure. It seems that $6 trillion are now in tax havens. In French, I would say “billion”, which means the same as “trillion” in English: 1,000 billion. That makes it a little difficult to follow, but we are talking about 6,000 billion dollars.
An expert committee that studied the matter in England made a comment that is interesting in a societal context. The experts said that money is often earned through stable institutions like central banks, courts, police services and government institutions. But once it is earned, the money is taken out of the economy when people send it offshore.
Let me come back to your expression, which I suppose would be “planification fiscale aggressive” in French. It has always been the case that tax evasion is not allowed. On the other hand, we are not required to arrange our affairs in order to pay the most possible. I would like to ask you where you see the dividing line to be.
Tax avoidance is legal. No one is requiring you to organize your affairs in such a way as to pay the maximum tax possible. But tax evasion is illegal.
I'd like to know if the bank has taken a look at that rather alarming figure of $6 trillion that the OECD put up with regard to tax havens. Is that part of your thinking with regard to the overall money supply?