What is more, if Singer's tactics are deemed so appalling it is in the gift of Western governments to stop them. Since 2010 it has been impossible to use the UK courts to enforce repayment of sovereign debt subject to relief. A US president, under the principle of "comity", only needs to inform a US court that a lawsuit interferes with his sole authority to conduct foreign policy to have it thrown out. George W. Bush invoked this principle to stop Singer's attempts to seize US assets of Congo-Brazzaville; Obama has chosen not to do the same for Argentina.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Singer has been America's fourth largest donor in the 2013-14 electoral cycle, giving over $5 million so far to his chosen Republican candidates and organisations which support them. As with his investments, Singer takes an activist approach, supporting candidates he deems the best qualified and closest to his outlook — those espousing economic conservatism, social liberalism and an interventionist foreign policy.
The Left will argue that rich donors like Singer create an unfair playing field and give a huge advantage to the Republicans, but the three Americans who have given even more to political causes in this electoral cycle —respectively more than $20 million, $9.5 million and nearly $6 million —all support the Democrats. To be fair, the number two donor, New York's former Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been bipartisan: only 95 per cent of his largesse has gone to Democrats.
Singer has also been a key supporter of those think-tanks and magazines which share his outlook. He is chairman of the Manhattan Institute, which his foundation has backed with $600,000 annually, out of the institute's total budget of $14 million. It is by no means the largest US think-tank — on the conservative side that is the Heritage Foundation — but it still has a larger budget than all UK right-of-centre think-tanks combined: roughly £7.5 million ($12 million).
Unusually among philanthropists Singer understands the efficacy of magazines in promoting a world view. He is chairman of Commentary magazine, the leading voice of neoconservatism in the US. With its annual budget of $2.5 million, less than a fifth of that of the Manhattan Institute, it too has achieved much in shaping opinion. Singer is a canny investor both inside and outside the world of finance.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Singer has been America's fourth largest donor in the 2013-14 electoral cycle, giving over $5 million so far to his chosen Republican candidates and organisations which support them. As with his investments, Singer takes an activist approach, supporting candidates he deems the best qualified and closest to his outlook — those espousing economic conservatism, social liberalism and an interventionist foreign policy.
The Left will argue that rich donors like Singer create an unfair playing field and give a huge advantage to the Republicans, but the three Americans who have given even more to political causes in this electoral cycle —respectively more than $20 million, $9.5 million and nearly $6 million —all support the Democrats. To be fair, the number two donor, New York's former Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been bipartisan: only 95 per cent of his largesse has gone to Democrats.
Singer has also been a key supporter of those think-tanks and magazines which share his outlook. He is chairman of the Manhattan Institute, which his foundation has backed with $600,000 annually, out of the institute's total budget of $14 million. It is by no means the largest US think-tank — on the conservative side that is the Heritage Foundation — but it still has a larger budget than all UK right-of-centre think-tanks combined: roughly £7.5 million ($12 million).
Unusually among philanthropists Singer understands the efficacy of magazines in promoting a world view. He is chairman of Commentary magazine, the leading voice of neoconservatism in the US. With its annual budget of $2.5 million, less than a fifth of that of the Manhattan Institute, it too has achieved much in shaping opinion. Singer is a canny investor both inside and outside the world of finance.
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