The G8 meetings this week at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland had a theme of "Tax Evasion and Transparency." This theme may have been chosen because "Enchantment under the Stars," or "A Night to Remember" were taken by the local high school prom committee.
And I joke not to lampoon this august body - far from it. It's only that the efforts of a group of people - none of whom put on a necktie - who help shepherd the world's largest economies ought to be focusing on economic growth, such as that which we haven't really experienced in the West for quite some time now.
Instead, the world is given the Lough Erne Declaration, which calls for a "robust" international framework to ensure fair tax collection and rational tax regimes. That the United States should be mentioned in the same breath as "fair tax collection" or "rational tax regime" is ludicrous enough.