Nicholas Shaxson

 ( 1966 Births ) 

Nicholas Shaxson (born 1966) is a British author, journalist, investigator and social entrepreneur. He is best known for his investigative books Poisoned Wells (2007, about oil and politics in west Africa), (2011, about tax havens), and The Finance Curse (2018, about the perils of oversized financial sectors.) His books have been translated into 12 languages. He is also a Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Harvard Kennedy School for 2025-26.

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Biography Shaxson was born in Malawi and educated in Britain. He has lived at various times in India, Brazil, England, Lesotho, Spain, Angola, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Since 1993, he has written on global business and politics for Vanity Fair, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Foreign Affairs, American Interest, and others., treasureislands.org, 19 November 2010

Shaxson first began working for the Tax Justice Network in 2006. His first book was Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil.

Shaxson (2008). 9780230605329, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230605329

In 2011 he wrote Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World.

Nicholas Shaxson (2026). 9780099541721, Vintage. ISBN 9780099541721

In 2018, he published The Finance Curse: How global finance is making us all poorer.

In 2021 he co-founded the Balanced Economy Project, Europe’s first general purpose anti-monopoly organisation since the 2000s. He left in 2024 to write a book on monopolies and market power.

Shaxson currently lives with his partner and their two children in Berlin. How to Write About Tax Havens and the Super-Rich: An Interview with Nicholas Shaxson, blog.longreads.com, 12 February 2014

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Awards and honours

• 2012 Bread and Roses Award, shortlist, Treasure Islands.
• 2017 Medallion, Society of the Silurians, Vanity Fair, Snakes on a Campaign.

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See also

• Tax Justice Network
• Corporate tax haven
• Tax haven
• Ireland as a tax haven

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Bibliography

• Nicholas Shaxson (2008). 9780230605329, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230605329
• Nicholas Shaxson (2011). 9781847921109, Bodley Head. ISBN 9781847921109
• Nicholas Shaxson (2018). 9781847925381, Bodley Head. ISBN 9781847925381
• Nicholas Shaxson (2014). 9788807883590, Feltrinelli. ISBN 9788807883590
• Nicholas Shaxson (2014). 9789877190052, Fondo de Cultura Económica. ISBN 9789877190052

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External links

• Collected articles at The Guardian
• Balaned Economy

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