Some of the surpising and shocking facts that emerged while the book was being researched.
Facts and Figures
British banks paid out £19 billion in executive bonuses in 2005. This was enough to double the wages of every frontline policeman, fireman, nurse, ambulance driver, paramedic and prison guard in the UK with about £20 million to spare.
It was estimated that if the richest 400 people in the United States were to give up just one per cent of their wealth, it would be enough to provide clean drinking water for the entire world.
A study in 2000 by management consultants Kepler Associates found an inverse relationship between pay and performance among the top 100 British companies. The ten worst performing companies paid their bosses £175,000 a year more than the top ten performers.
According to Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK, tax evasion cost the British Inland Revenue a minimum of £75 billion in 2004. By contrast benefit fraud, according to a report to a House of Commons select committee, was only £3 billion of which £1 billion was lost due to staff error.
According to a report published in 2005 by Tax Justice Network (TJN), a group of accountants and economists, the world's richest people have stashed away £5.7 trillion in about 70 offshore havens mainly to avoid paying tax.
