Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Time For a Tax on Speculation

By RALPH NADER

Even a small levy could help curb the destructive wheeling and dealing on Wall Street and raise hundreds of billions in revenue.


According to estimates from a 2009 Center for Economic and Policy Research paper, a small tax perhaps ranging from one-half to one-hundredth of a percent, depending upon which financial product is taxed, could reap $350 billion.

This tax offers another significant benefit: It has the potential to curb risky speculative trading that contributes little real economic value. The Capital Institute's John Fullerton has stated that a financial speculation tax could have a significant impact on the high-frequency trading and other "quant" trading strategies that now comprise an astonishing 70% of vastly bloated equity-trading volume.

Already, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are pressing for a euro-zone financial transaction tax...... WSJ: Time For a Tax on Speculation

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U.S. Lawmakers to Propose Transaction Tax

Two U.S. lawmakers will introduce measures to impose a transaction tax on financial firms that resembles a proposal released by the European Union.

1 comment:

Arvind said...

There is nothing a tax cannot solve, is there? The solution to the problems of the world comprises of taxes, legislation and bureaucracy.


The transaction tax is something Europe desperately seeks at the global level so that they can tax the people of India and China and take away the money to Europe,


The question is why do they need 350 billion. So that they can give grants to Gender Studies professors and NGOs running "awareness campaigns" on AIDs after getting 5 million dollars as grants?