Where the World's Dirty Money Actually Goes (with Oliver Bullough)

About this episode

Kim interviews journalist Oliver Bullough about his new book on money laundering and the systems that enable corruption.

While the podcast team is taking a Radical Sabbatical, Kim is interviewing authors of the books that have had a big impact on her in the past two years.  In this episode, Kim speaks with Oliver Bullough, journalist and author of the highly acclaimed books: Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World's Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away with Anything and Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How To Take It Back.  Oliver’s new book is called Everybody Loves Our Dollars - How Money Laundering Won. Oliver describes a moment in his life that shaped each of these books. He was touring the palace of Yanukovych, the corrupt pro-Russian ex-President of Ukraine, horrified at the extravagant opulence, all stolen from the Ukrainian people. “How did you let him get away with this?” Oliver asked his friend. “Well, actually you’re technically in London, not Ukraine, right now,” his friend responded. Who is corrupt, the people who stole the money, or the lawyers, bankers, and accountants in countries that tout their lack of corruption? Oliver describes the systems in place to help the wealthy dodge taxes and the deeply corrupt to hide their…

People in this episode

Host: Kim Scott

Guest: Oliver Bullough

Topics covered

• money laundering
• financial crime
• corruption
• political institutions
• post-WWII era
• wealth inequality

Keywords

• money laundering
• financial crime
• corruption
• Ukraine
• wealth
• politics
• Oliver Bullough

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World's Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away with Anything, Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How To Take It Back, Everybody Loves Our Dollars - How Money Laundering Won

Places: Ukraine, London

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