The island of Jersey is the biggest exporter of bananas! (Paul Collier, “In pursuit of the $21 trillion”, Prospect Magazine, April 2013).

How can this be? Answer: transfer pricing by international corporations. $21 trillion is the estimated amount of money lost in taxes by the use of tax havens to hide up cross-border transactions and reduce tax liabilities, often to zero. To relocate a physical plant to an area with lower tax rates may be reasonable (although it causes a race to the bottom in world-wide tax rates). But transfer pricing, organised by shady lawyers and accountants, has a huge social cost. African countries, for instance, may have huge raw material exports, but all the smart lawyers and accountants work for the mining companies, and the people themselves see little benefit. It also is a cover for bribery, fake companies and untraceable bank accounts.

This issue is part and parcel of the unaccountability, greed and lack of social conscience of the corporations. It mirrors the increasing divide between rich and poor, and has created a class of non-State actors with no responsibility to any one country.

Why is this of pressing importance to Epicureans? Because the unaccountability is a threat to everyone. Add to accounting shenanigans the utter disdain of most corporations for their shareholders and you get a dire threat to the welfare of the world, not just the West. Epicurus called for moderation and peace of mind. How can you have peace of mind with a bunch of latter-day highwaymen robbing taxpayers all over the world. All corporations should be held to common high standards of reporting. Paul Collier suggests Tax Inspectors Without Borders to police all international corporations.