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Comment by Gene5ive | Hacker News Reader

It's reasonable to expect 17 million relatively well off people to make some concessions when hundreds of millions of others have asked them to through the diplomacy of their elected officials.

They should do it because elected officials will sign it into law. It will be signed into law because people asked for it. People asked for it because they benefit from it. People benefit from it because they need stuff the government pays for.

There is no reason to sympathize with governments that depend on clever paperwork for their nation's success because that is not a tangible good. There is every reason to sympathize with governments that are trying to raise money to invest in their citizens because that is a tangible good.

Eliminating tax havens is no more objectionable than closing an account with a bank that has lost your trust. The bank will adapt and learn as it always does.

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> It will be signed into law because people asked for it.

Again, did Swiss citizens ask for it? It seemed like US politicians asked for it. Why should I raise my prices because you said you are losing customers to me?

I'm not saying it's not a good thing, but representatives should be looking after their own people's interests and cooperation agreements need to be conditioned on that.

The people's interest is benefited by doing 'the right thing'. And if enough countries sign up to do 'the right thing' then they can release 'FATCA 2: Electric Bugaloo'

> Again, did Swiss citizens ask for it? It seemed like US politicians asked for it. Why should I raise my prices because you said you are losing customers to me?

Because if this agreement has any teeth, it will require some kind of sanctions against the defectors from the rest of the members of the deal.

It took a couple world wars to learn that only looking after your own interests leads to confrontation

Using your country's priviledged position to your advantage creates grievances and division

Just picture a world full of embargos as retaliation for tax dodging. Many countries could decide it's not worth keeping an open border (with flow of goods) with a country that tries to attract companies (that sell in your country) with low taxes. A trade agreemeny (EEC etc) rests on the good will of its signatories. But offering your country as a tax haven breaks this relationship. The only reason it has taken this long to get this type of agreement going is that the underpriviledged countries lacked democratic pressure. No healthy democracy would allow the flow of untaxed goods from third countries

The democratic will is slowly building up, and if it is denied it will lead to confrontation and overall waste of resources. It is in everyone's interest to agree to a global minimum tax rate (but it requires vision)

> Again, did Swiss citizens ask for it? It seemed like US politicians asked for it. Why should I raise my prices because you said you are losing customers to me?

Emphasis on US Politicians. I certainly didn’t ask for this.

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