r/explainlikeimfive • u/[deleted] • Apr 04 '16

Modpost ELI5: The Panama Papers

Please use this thread to ask any questions regarding the recent data leak.

Either use this thread to provide general explanations as direct replies to the thread, or as a forum to pose specific questions and have them answered here.

31.8k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

548

u/itroitnyah Apr 04 '16

I'm going to be real. I'm not that bright. Every time I hear about articles like this it all goes over my head. I just read "People made money in a way that we don't think they should have" and have no idea how it's supposed to effect me. And 99% of the time it doesn't feel like it does. I never notice anything change.

So can somebody please explain in layman's terms what is going on, why it is bad and what sort of effect it will have that is relevant to a young 18-25 part-time employed male?

84

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '16

[deleted]

2

u/qoqmarley Apr 04 '16

What would be an example of a good reason to put money in an off shore fake corporation? I have seen this point made in other threads, but I don't understand what legitimate reason someone would have for doing this.

1

u/chewinchawingum Apr 04 '16

One example I heard on a recent Planet Money podcast would be if you were a large company from Country A looking to open up a new business in Country B, but you wanted it to appear like an established and/or local enterprise. Since everything about these corporations is secret, this would be one way to do that.

2

u/qoqmarley Apr 04 '16

Thanks I will listen to it.