Nicholas Shaxson

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), Treasure Islands (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. 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 The Financial Times, The Guardian, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Foreign Affairs, The Nation, American Interest, and others.

Shaxson first began working for the Tax Justice Network in 2006. His first book was Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil. In 2011 he wrote Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World. 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.

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