On the OECD's 'unified approach' as Frankenstein's monster and a dented shape sorter

On 9 October 2019, the OECD Secretariat published a discussion document on how countries could – or, perhaps, should – seek to apportion multinational business profits among market jurisdictions. This document has been published prior to a public consultation on the subject that will be held at the OECD conference centre in Paris on 21-22 November 2019. Interested parties can submit input until 12 November 2019. The discussion document brought the story of Frankenstein’s monster in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel to the author’s mind. These thoughts of Frankenstein had to compete with that of a toddler trying to stubbornly shove a square shape into a triangular hole in a dented shape sorter. Things did not work out well for Frankenstein and his monster in the novel. The author does not imagine they will with the shape sorter either, and explains why, as far as the author is concerned, that is exactly what should happen to the OECD’s creation.