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The Panama Papers leak sheds some light on the intricate ways in which the wealthy can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. As well as charging minimal or no tax to residents and non-residents, the main characteristics of tax havens are their lack of transparency and effective information exchange.
The right to own private property without reasonable government interference is a cornerstone of American freedom. In fact, the ability to own land without state intrusion has deep roots in the English common law, and, since the Middle Ages, has been a source of security, peace, and economic stability.
So important was the concept of private property to the Founders, the First Continental Congress, in the Declaration of Colonial Rights, said that "[Americans] are entitled to life, liberty, and property, and they have never ceded to any sovereign power . . . a right to dispose of either without their consent." A decade later, this became the basis of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment: "No person shall be deprived of . . . property, without due process of law." This protects citizens from having their property confiscated in the absence of dire circumstances, such as the need to build a military facility in a time of war, and is known as the doctrine of eminent domain.