Questioned on his own responsibility for Britain's current economic problems, he said: "Of course, everybody who was in power in the period bears a certain responsibility.
"On the other hand... this global financial crisis was the product of a whole new way that the financial and banking sector has been working in this past 20 or 30 years.
"You have got this deep integration of the global economy and you have a lot of financial instruments that were created whose impact people didn't properly understand."
Asked if that meant Labour did not fully understand it while he was in power, he replied: "No, we didn't."
Mr Blair underlined his view that a "thriving and healthy banking sector" was vital to the future of the modern British economy.
Mr Blair said he still believed he had a contribution to make to domestic politics, and suggested that Labour could win the 2015 election.
"I have got things to say and if people want to listen, that's great, and if they don't, fine."
Mr Blair said when Labour lost power, it traditionally lost power for a long time. "I think it is possible in these circumstances to re-write that traditional script," he added.
"I know those people who are leading the Labour Party at the moment are desperate to do their best for the country."
Mr Blair also suggested his wife Cherie had played "a very big part" in helping to secure the Olympics for the UK by winning support from less famous members of the International "People tended to make a big fuss of all the big names," he said.
"My wife was very, very good at going to different countries and seeing people before the Games who we're the less significant, if you like, people. "By the time we got to Singapore we knew those people, I then met them and was talking to them, all of these things helped, I think."
Business travel convention coming to Boston - CBS News
Thomas Horton, the chairman, president and CEO of AMR Corp. and American Airlines is one of many industry leaders who will participate in the four-day Global Business Travel Association convention, beginning Sunday in Boston.
American Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November. Horton said this month that the company has upped revenue and reached deals with labor unions that will cut costs. In a letter to employees, he said the company will evaluate potential mergers to strengthen its operations.
The Global Business Travel Association will bring together thousands of travel industry leaders, suppliers and managers to discuss challenges, policy trends and potential profit areas during its annual convention.
The convention, which runs through Wednesday, will also feature keynote addresses from former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. "Saturday Night Live" comedian Seth Meyers is slated to speak Monday.
Rebecca Carriero, a spokeswoman for the association, said this marks the first year two former U.S. presidents will speak at the convention. It is unclear what Clinton and Bush will speak about during their addresses.
Clinton previously spoke at the convention in 2009. Michael W. McCormick, the association's executive director and chief operating officer, said the Democrat was asked back because of his "ability to distill global events, making even the most complex situation relatable."
In addition to keynote speeches, the convention will offer industry leader panels and more than 65 education sessions, as well as professional development opportunities before the convention begins.
During the event, thousands of employees from companies across the travel industry, including hotels, airlines and technology firms, will have the opportunity to share their experience and network. More than 400 companies will display their products and services on the convention's expo floor.
Registration for the convention costs upwards of $1,500 per person.
Boris Johnson defends London's financial sector - The Independent
Paralympics: ‘Getting this far is fantastic but it’s only the beginning’
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Money woes and marriage jitters in store for series three of Downton Abbey - Daily Telegraph
The new plot, set in the aftermath of the First World War, will see the aristocratic family threatened with the loss of the entire Crawley fortune – again for reasons that are not revealed.
Hugh Bonneville’s character, the sixth Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley, is seen sobbing as he admits the family wealth has vanished in a scene with actress Elizabeth McGovern, who plays his wife Cora Crawley.
"Are you really telling me that all the money has gone?” the Countess asks her husband.
After a pause, he tells her: “I’m afraid so.”
Julian Fellowes, the creator of the 1920s period drama, said the financial upset will remind the audience about the background differences between the Countess and Earl of Grantham.
“Cora is less afraid of the future than Robert is, she’s much less afraid of change and now you will start to see more and more of that.
If anyone understands the world that is coming it is Cora,” he said.
The battle of the matriarchs will also be revived with the feisty arrival of veteran American actress Shirley MacLaine, who will appear as Cora’s “dramatic” mother.
The 78 year-old, who admitted to never having watched Downton Abbey before the role, said working on the set had been an extraordinary experience.
“We were shooting outside in the rain and in the wind with our formal gear on and nobody seemed to notice,” she said. “So I just stepped right in there and acted like I didn’t either. I had a fabulous time.”
Downstairs there will also be a new addition. Alfred, a lanky man servant who lacks experience, will fall prey to Downton Abbey’s resident bully Thomas but as money woes upstairs worsen, concerns will turn to whether they will keep their jobs.
Added to that is the turbulent reappearance of chauffeur Tom Branson, now married to Lady Sybil, and confusion about how he should be addressed.
Ever the one to preserve class formalities, Butler Charles Carson refuses to call Branson by his new title – which is not revealed – stalwartly declaring “I’m not addressing a chauffeur”.
The ongoing love-affair between head valet John Bates and head housemaid Anna Smith, played by Brendan Coyle and Joanne Froggatt respectively, is also set to continue with Anna struggling to clear his name after his shock imprisonment last season.
Coyle, who revealed he had perfected his character’s limp using a pebble in his shoe, said: “I still think there is a possibility Bates is the killer. What I love about this is that it is left for the audience to decide.”
Season three of Downton Abbey, which recently won a record 16 Emmy nominations, is due to air in September.
Business fares drop great - Virgin boss - heraldsun.com.au
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World's wealthiest have 'deprived the taxman of £13TRILLION by hiding cash in tax havens overseas' - Daily Mail
- The report estimates that up to 13000000000000 is being kept out of the reach of the taxman in offshore tax havens
- Secretive jurisdictions including Switzerland and Hong Kong have seen a huge influx of funds in recent years
- Meanwhile, oil-rich nations such as Russia and Nigeria are leaking vast sums of money to the tax havens
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The world's wealthiest people are harbouring 13trillion ($21trillion) in offshore tax havens, according to a campaign group.
Tax Justice Network estimate that the huge sum - which may even be as high as 20trillion - has been squirreled away overseas.
The report's author James Henry, who is a specialist in tax havens, says that secretive jurisdictions including Switzerland, Luxembourg and Hong Kong are being used to keep trillions of pounds from out-of-the reach of the taxman.
The report says secretive jurisdictions including Hong Kong are receiving huge influxes of funds from a global super elite
Mr Henry said that private banks - who are desperate to woo the super-rich - are helping the global elite to keep hold of their huge assets.
'(Their wealth is) protected by a highly-paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy,' he was reported as saying in The Observer.
And according to the research conducted by the economist, private banks including UBS and Goldman Sachs were managing around 4trillion in 2010, which is more than a two-fold increase on the figures for 2005 before the financial downturn happened.
The analysis in the report shows that oil-rich countries such as Russia and Nigeria are leaking money to tax havens at a colossal rate.
The Cayman Islands ranked highly in a list of nations where a large quantity of the huge sums are heading annually
Almost 500bn has left Russia in the past two decades.
And around 200bn has flooded out of the African nation since the mid-1970s.
A previous Financial Secrecy Index compiled by the Tax Justice Network ranks the jurisdictions enjoying an influx of capital in a Financial Secrecy Index.
The top 10 private banks in the world including UBS were estimated to be managing around 4trillion in funds in 2010
In the table for 2011, it suggests that Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Hong Kong are amongst the nations where a large amount of the huge sums are heading.
And despite the popular perception of tax havens as being small isolated islands, the campaign group says that the biggest players in 'the supply of financial secrecy' are almost all wealthy nations.
The group also estimates that around $250bn is lost in taxes each year by governments worldwide as a result of the wealthiest individuals holding their assets offshore.
The total value of the money being leaked from some nations even dwarfs the debts they often owe to the rest of the world.
According to the Tax Justice Network, the consequences of this tax avoidance are severe.
'Secrecy distorts trade and investment flows, and creates a criminogenic environment for a litany of evils that hurt the citizens of rich and poor countries alike.
'It’s not just developing countries that suffer: European countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal have been brought to their knees by decades of secrecy and tax evasion.'
Estimates suggest that if the interest on the huge sums being lost were taxed at a rate of around 30%, around 121bn would be generated for the treasuries around the world.
We all have a moral duty to our families to pay the minimum amount of tax legally possible to the government mafia.
- We all have a moral duty, UK, 22/7/2012 13:39
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