[matt4077]

The problem is that it creates a race to the bottom.

If you're Lithuania or whatever, you have a 0% chance of getting a company like Apple to build its European headquarters in your country if they decide on factors like accessibility, talent pool etc. So you can offer them whatever you want, and if that means they rent a mailbox in your capital and pay you 500$ of taxes per year, you're 500$ minus a mailbox ahead.

Of course London just lost 10 Billion $ in yearly tax revenue... And that's where cooperation really starts making sense: you don't make tax deals, London pays one or two of those billions to you and everyone comes out ahead (except Apple).

Technically it's a cartel, but the effects are limited because countries still have a vital interest to allow cooperations to flourish.

(Also: I know Ireland actually had a lot more to offer than a mailbox, and it's actually quite a success story)