CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

It’s the 70 to 90 Percent that Matters 273
not wasting the money. We’re not throwing it away. We’re making it safe and
secure and earning a decent return. Only wealth accumulation and preservation
matter. If the gap doesn’t matter, what worsens the gap doesn’t matter
either. That’s simply not the business of capitalism. Other people have to
deal with those kinds of issues. Helping global corporations and rich people
shift their money by illegal means doesn’t matter. They’ve already made it.
Where they keep it is for them to know.
What I’m implying here is that part of the reason the gap does matter
is because so many people think it doesn’t matter and then take actions
based on that notion. I’ve stood in front of business and banking groups
talking about the movement of illicit proceeds out of developing and
transitional economies. You’d be surprised how many people think that
there are no economic consequences whatsoever to such actions. If the
gap doesn’t matter, then income and wealth derived at the expense of the
poor doesn’t matter. There’s only one minor question: Is it legal? Or,
more bluntly, can it be accomplished without getting caught? But consequences
to others? That’s not of concern.
It’s not only the business and banking communities. Many people in the
aid community believe that poverty can be conquered without addressing
inequality. Again, I disagree. Focusing only on global poverty prejudices the
way we deal with global poverty. With eyes locked on the bottom of Figure
5.2, Global GPD and Global Quintile Income Disparity, you miss what’s at
the top—70 to 90 percent of global income. And you miss how a lot of that
money got to the top. Your concern is not the rich; it’s the poor. You send
aid to the poor, but what the rich do is largely off your radar screen. And
what the rich in poor countries do in league with the rich in rich countries is
completely off your radar screen. You’re dependent on rich people in rich
countries giving you money to distribute to what you hope are poor people
in poor countries. You’re not about to bite the hand that feeds you. Shenanigans
between the rich over there and the rich here are not noticed. You’ve
got your eyes on the poor, on aid going into poor countries. Millions of dollars
in administrative costs are spent in order to send billions of dollars of
loans and grants to the poor. You don’t notice the hundreds of billions of
dollars that come the other way, out of those poor countries. Those flows
worsen inequality in poor countries, but you’re not into inequality, you’re
into poverty.