In a world where economic inequality continues to widen, have you ever wondered how the ultra-rich seem to play by completely different rules? From tax-dodging billionaires on private islands to oligarchs evading sanctions on superyachts, there's a hidden system at work—one that most of us never see. This isn't just theory; it's a real, functioning network that shapes our economy, our politics, and our daily lives in ways most people don't understand.
Sociologist Brooke Harrington didn't just study this system—she infiltrated it. For eight years, she trained as a wealth manager, traveling from European capitals to developing nations in South America and Africa, to islands scattered across the Indian Ocean, Caribbean, and South Pacific. Through candid interviews with dozens of wealth managers in nineteen countries, she gained unprecedented access to the inner workings of offshore finance.
What Harrington discovered is both fascinating and disturbing. The offshore system didn't emerge from nowhere—it evolved from the remnants of colonialism, creating a new form of invisible empire. This network allows the ultra-rich to escape tax obligations, labor and environmental regulations, campaign finance rules, and other laws that apply to the rest of us. It's not about any single country's benefit, but rather serves a small empire of a few thousand billionaires who help themselves to society's best offerings while leaving the bills for everyone else.
As politicians struggle to address deepening economic and political inequality, understanding the offshore system becomes crucial. This book reveals what offshore finance truly costs us all—not just in lost tax revenue, but in the erosion of democratic institutions and the degradation of public goods we all depend on. Featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and recommended by Anne Applebaum on The Ezra Klein Show, this Financial Times Best Book of the Year provides the essential context for understanding the most pressing crises of our time.
