Those Tax 'Loopholes' Were Created for a Reason

Last week I pointed out that the U.S. had fared pretty well from the leak of the Panama Papers. There are Americans named who hold offshore accounts, to be sure, but so far, they seem to be random people with a bit of money, not a Who’s Who of our richest and most powerful citizens. There are other countries that wish they could say the same right now.

The response to this observation has been, ahem, mixed. Some people shared my sunny optimism. Others demanded to know how I could claim that America was doing OK, when not all the names have been released yet. (Answer: I don’t. But though prediction is folly, I’m guessing that if a prominent politician or Silicon Valley multizillionaire had been among the names, reporters would have probably led with that one, rather than the son of the former president of Egypt.)