OFFSHORE

From the canaries to Malta, Lichtenstein to cyprus, Panama to the Isle of Man, OFFSHORE is a follow-the-money account of the inner workings of a multi-trillion dollar economy where legitimate wealth seeks criminal advantage and criminal wealth seeks legitimacy. This massive economic distortion compounds global inequality and undermines the ability of nations to appropriate wealth for the common good. In countries of all political bent, this deprives governments of needed revenue, weakening the state's ability to perform its essential functions - hence, depriving the state of legitimacy. One figure estimates that each year nations lose $190 billion in tax revenue to tax avoidance alone.

Dwyer profiles each offshore haven as a character and tells one or two character-based stories as secondary narratives emblematic of the place - an approach used in Michael Lewis' Boomerang and William Langeweische's The Outlaw Sea. Framing current stories within histories of these jurisdictions, the book also captures the personality and politics of these fringe states so central to the global economy.

OFFSHORE also explores the historical context with some of the more familiar stalwarts, like the origins of Switzerland's banking secrecy, which dates back nearly three hundred years - a reflection of their culture of neutrality with a complicated and controversial history. Or how Panama's status as a tax haven with strict banking and corporate confidentiality laws began with the creation of the nation's ship registry in 1919, which was established to help U.S. oil tankers avoid levies passing through the newly-opened canal.

Johnny Dwyer is a reporter living in New York City and the author of two previous books, American Warlord (Knopf) and The Districts (Knopf). He covers law enforcement, national security, and justice-related issues for The Intercept and has written for Esquire, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Foreign Policy and other publications. He teaches at the Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism at New York University. To read some of his reporting, visit johnnydwyer.net.