Ep 97: Oliver Bullough - Moneyland - How to Take the World Back from Kleptocrats

Dec 24, 2018

01:02:03

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Today, we take a little trip to a place called “Moneyland”. Moneyland is a virtual place – but it is also very real. In fact, it is the third richest “country” in the world.

Moneyland is the title of the Times of London’s Business Book of the Year, written by our guest Oliver Bullough. Oliver is an award-winning investigative journalist. He previously wrote two non-fiction books on Russia’s history and politics.

The book’s full title is Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Rule the World and How to Take it Back. It is where many of the world’s mega rich, particularly kleptocrats in a variety of countries characterised by high levels of corruption, hide and spend their stolen wealth.

As you will hear from Oliver, Moneyland is a lawless, stateless place. It is also one that the West’s own institutions have helped to create, and in the process undermine the foundations of Western stability. We cover that and more in this enthralling conversation, including:

What Moneyland is and how it got created;
How Moneyland works – how kleptocrats can steal, hid and spend their ill-gotten wealth (and do things like buy passports);
Tax havens and how they work;
The role of the West in creating Moneyland, and how Moneyland is undermining democracy;
What we can do to fight back against Moneyland

Show notes:

Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Rule the World and How to Take it Back

Oliver on Twitter

A Kleptocracy Tour of London with Oliver

Gabriel Zucman’s The Hidden Wealth of Nations

Civil Society Groups:

Global Witness