The Dark Side of Offshore Finance

Wealth: Laurie Taylor talks to Brooke Harrington, Professor of Economic Sociology at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, about the world of offshore finance, how it works and its impact, globally. As part of her research, she earned her own wealth management certificate and spent nearly eight years interviewing other professionals in the field, as well as visiting the 18 most popular tax havens in the world—from Mauritius, off the southeast coast of Africa, to the Cook Islands in the middle of the South Pacific - observing and interviewing the experts who keep the secrets and protect the fortunes of the global ultra-rich. Does offshore finance have costs for all of us at a time when democracies seem under threat and deepening inequalities are destabilising the world? Also, Guido Alfani, Professor of Economic History at Bocconi University, Milan, explores a 1000-year history of the super-rich in the West from the medieval period to today. He finds that their position within society has long been fragile and precarious. How have the uber rich been viewed by society, over time, and are they ripe for a re-appraisal?

Producer: Jayne Egerton