Leonid Bershidsky, Columnist

Europe's Tax Competition Is Unfair and Inefficient

It would be cheaper to compensate small countries for lost revenue than to continue tolerating tax avoidance.

From Saul to Paul?

Photographer: THIERRY CHARLIER/AFP/Getty Images
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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stretched credulity when he told the European Parliament he had known nothing about Luxembourg's sweet tax deals with large companies; he'd served as finance minister and then prime minister as the small country struck the deals.

What Juncker knew aside, one might ask: Is there is any other way for small nations to survive among behemoths than to provide loopholes for the global rich, or at least ultra-low tax rates? The answer is no, and yes. Small countries can't compete without an incentive to offer investors; but there are better ways than current practice.