5/24 NYT Business section on "The Tycoons of Greece"
More than confirming what has been written here over the past few weeks, the Thursday NYT 's article would be almost humorous if one were really cynical.
The article details how the oligarchs of Greece pay only 7.7% in taxes and that of course is only on the earnings that they choose to report. The shipping magnates, by Constitutional mandate, are exempt from all taxes.
As to philantropy there is no evidence that they do anything, relatively speaking. One well meaning member of that wealthy class runs a charitable foundation and in January promised to raise 100 million Euros for charity projects to alleviate the current economic challenges of the increasingly large number of those less fortunate. So far, "there has been little giving."
The NYT, no doubt trying to strike some kind of balance and listen to whatever flack represents these incredibly wealthy and unregulated folks, notes that "Greek shipping assets are about $85 billion - although they hasten to add that those assets underpin a debt burden of $380 billion." Oh dear me, poor billionaires. That statement means absolutely nothing without a few numbers like revenues and earnings, how those values are established. The amount of unreported earnings ciphoned off to Switzerland, Monaco, and wherever would be difficult to establish.
Rather than focus on any meaningful charitible events, the NYT found one shipper who said that the problem is jobs and that is why he is not laying off any workers at the moment. Who knows. My favorite quote is "another rich shipper, insisted on not being identified because he did not want to draw attention to himself (such humility) said that he was providing thousands of free meals to families in and around his ancestral village. That's like me giving $25 to Doctors Without Borders and claiming to be substantially supporting that group's intense efforts to aid the sick, wounded, and injured coming across the Syrian border into Turkey.
The final "positive" factoid provided is that the shipping industry employs 200,000 people and brought in 13 billion Euros in 2010, making the country's top single foreign exchange earner. What does that mean and who pocketed most of that money. It raises the issue so clearly, why no taxes, why no meaningful charity.
This could go on, at least from the writer. Most bankers who are not infatuated by the incredible hospitality of the Greek wealthy realize that they often do not repay debts, or try to deny responsibility for their own decisions.
The article details how the oligarchs of Greece pay only 7.7% in taxes and that of course is only on the earnings that they choose to report. The shipping magnates, by Constitutional mandate, are exempt from all taxes.
As to philantropy there is no evidence that they do anything, relatively speaking. One well meaning member of that wealthy class runs a charitable foundation and in January promised to raise 100 million Euros for charity projects to alleviate the current economic challenges of the increasingly large number of those less fortunate. So far, "there has been little giving."
The NYT, no doubt trying to strike some kind of balance and listen to whatever flack represents these incredibly wealthy and unregulated folks, notes that "Greek shipping assets are about $85 billion - although they hasten to add that those assets underpin a debt burden of $380 billion." Oh dear me, poor billionaires. That statement means absolutely nothing without a few numbers like revenues and earnings, how those values are established. The amount of unreported earnings ciphoned off to Switzerland, Monaco, and wherever would be difficult to establish.
Rather than focus on any meaningful charitible events, the NYT found one shipper who said that the problem is jobs and that is why he is not laying off any workers at the moment. Who knows. My favorite quote is "another rich shipper, insisted on not being identified because he did not want to draw attention to himself (such humility) said that he was providing thousands of free meals to families in and around his ancestral village. That's like me giving $25 to Doctors Without Borders and claiming to be substantially supporting that group's intense efforts to aid the sick, wounded, and injured coming across the Syrian border into Turkey.
The final "positive" factoid provided is that the shipping industry employs 200,000 people and brought in 13 billion Euros in 2010, making the country's top single foreign exchange earner. What does that mean and who pocketed most of that money. It raises the issue so clearly, why no taxes, why no meaningful charity.
This could go on, at least from the writer. Most bankers who are not infatuated by the incredible hospitality of the Greek wealthy realize that they often do not repay debts, or try to deny responsibility for their own decisions.
posted by John Borden at 5:18 PM
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