But tax havens haven’t always had such a bad image. Sometimes they’ve functioned like any other safe haven, allowing persecuted minorities to escape the oppressive rules of home. Jews in Nazi Germany, for instance, were able to ask secretive Swiss bankers to hide their money. Unfortunately, secretive Swiss bankers soon undid the good this did their reputation by proving just as happy to help the Nazis hide the gold they managed to steal and reluctant to give it back to the people they stole it from.
