New Film Exposes Growing Use of Corporate Tax Havens

Movie director and experts attended Cambridge premiere

MASSPIRG


L to R: Phineas Baxandall, Archon Fung, Deirdre Cummings, Victoria Bruce, Chuck Collins. Photo by Leise Jones

A new film, We’re Not Broke, tells the story of U.S. corporations dodging billions of dollars in income tax, and how seven fed-up Americans, including one from Boston,  take their frustration to the street—and vow to make the corporations pay their fair share.

The film’s director, Victoria Bruce, and other experts attended the  movie’s Thursday night premiere, sponsored by MASSPIRG Education Fund and Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

“The subject of this movie couldn’t be more timely, with taxes front-and-center this election season,” said Deirdre Cummings, legislative director of MASSPIRG. “Gaming the system and dodging taxes is not a right or left issue—it is a citizen issue with tremendous consequences for every resident of the Commonwealth and for every American.”

 “One of the activists featured in our film is here in Boston,” said panelist and movie director Victoria Bruce, “and we filmed him here in March of 2011, six months before Occupy. As usual, Boston was at the forefront of a movement that has now spread across the country so we are delighted to be able to bring the film back here.”

Panelists included:

Event sponsor and facilitator,  Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy & Citizenship, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. Co-Director: Transparency Policy Project, Harvard Kennedy School

Victoria Bruce, Co-Director and Producer, We’re not Broke 

Chuck Collins, Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, and expert featured in “We’re Not Broke”

Phineas Baxandall, Senior analyst for tax and budget policy for MASSPIRG and U.S. PIRG

MASSPIRG is a member of the FACT coalition, a broad coalition working to end tax-dodging through off-shore tax havens and other tax-avoidance schemes, and to improve financial transparency in our government, corporations and financial institutions.   


Director Victoria Bruce addresses the crowd as Chuck Collins and Phineas Baxandall look on. Photo by Leise Jones