But it took about a minute of reading to realize that not only was his claim, ah overstated, but that this was the worst thing I’ve ever read by ProPublica, and a real contender for the worst thing I’ve read so far in 2021 from a credible outlet. And reading the rest along with its supplements did not disabuse me of those feelings.
My concerns:
- I don’t think anyone involved at ProPublica knows what tax avoidance means
- I don’t think anyone involved at ProPublica grasps why virtually all developed countries don’t tax unrealized capital gains
- I don’t think anyone involved at ProPublica tried very hard (at all?) to learn about what they didn’t know before publishing this piece
- I don’t think anyone involved at ProPublica gave nearly enough thought to the implications of violating privacy laws (or at least norms) to publish a non-story
As ever though, to show is better than to tell. So what follows will dive in.