1/4% Tax on all stock trades pushed in NY Times today

Quote from tomdavis:

Someone needs to tell it like it is sooner rather than later. By the end of this month Merkel and her cronies will be pitching the stamp tax to an ignorant public as "a way to make the financial sector pay their fair share." In reality, just the opposite is true. Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citi, etc. will pay zero while pensions and savings are taxed to the max.
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Agree Tom, we need to fight off stamp duty right away, and we don't have the luxury of time to play it cute with killing off FTT first. It also has many heads too.
 
for example, making the EU FTT look more like the UK stamp duty, which does not allow evasion by moving to a different country. Adding that sort of provision to their already planned ‘residence principle’ would make it virtually impossible for anyone to evade the tax by moving country – unless they also gave up trading in products like currency, derivatives and shares that are themselves derived from European economic and financial activity


These are the very brief – and therefore not detailed – reasons why European politicians should not listen to the FTT deniers but should spend time getting the EU FTT proposal right – just as we and the IMF have been arguing for months.
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http://touchstoneblog.org.uk /2012/01/given-whos-opposed-to-a-robin-hood-tax-is-it-any-wonder-were-in-favour/

This guy who from day one has displayed an appalling understanding of basic economics and has outright lied about any negative consequence from an FTT despite the amount of evidence has now coined any one against as a "FTT denier". Unstable fanatics throughout history, from issue to issue, religion, global warming, you name it, have labeled there " opponents" deniers...


Its kind of freaky.
 
Quote from sheda:

http://touchstoneblog.org.uk /2012/01/given-whos-opposed-to-a-robin-hood-tax-is-it-any-wonder-were-in-favour/

This guy who from day one has displayed an appalling understanding of basic economics and has outright lied about any negative consequence from an FTT despite the amount of evidence has now coined any one against as a "FTT denier". Unstable fanatics throughout history, from issue to issue, religion, global warming, you name it, have labeled there " opponents" deniers...


Its kind of freaky.
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It's truly pathetic that because we can't get 20-30% returns easily on our funds investors think that capitalism failed, when all those returns amounted to decades of undervaluation from inefficient taxation accruing to companies exponentially after the crash of 87 and Reagan's tax cuts specifically from an astonishlingly shocking 70+% top rate to below 40%. All that change amounted to the 90's boom going up because of this structural change, and whenever robin hood is put in the light like depravely robbing investors every time they make a transaction is silly. Just silly. I would lean back and laugh were it not for the fact that there are some nutcases like this out there that have seats in power. Beyond mercantilism, the next wave was the capitalist financed by government bestowed cheap money giving rise to the Robber Barons. Robber Barons would have easily faught against such nonsense, but some wouldn't ever stop shorting until they were forced to cover from having shorted more shares than there were shares outstanding and went to prison.

Like market manipulation is that fragrant. I bet I could get a million e-mail addresses, buy 1,000 shares in a stock with less than 5,000 daily volume and it'd be up huge! But if I'm the one doing the market moving by buying 100,000 shares I know for a fact the SEC would be calling the high roller the very next day to investigate true market manipulation. Not this infantile wish that all those investors should have to pay a sales tax, but if there were higher capital gains on short term holds this would most likely have a similarly discalming effect on the market.
 
Is it really true that Merkel supports the idea of Rösler about this stamp duty tax? Because after reading some German articles, it seems to me that this idea of Rösler is just a (last) act of desperation to stop the introduction of the FTT in EZ.

It seems that Merkel doesn't care about FDP anymore, and keeps pushing the FTT at the next EU summit this month, together with Sarkozy. I guess Merkel isn't afraid of FDP anymore, because she thinks they will not risk a government crisis on this, with only 2% in the polls.

Merkel pushes ahead with transaction tax even without FDP

(google translation)

The government has already negotiated a financial transactions tax, which reaches only necessary in the euro-zone. It ignores the Chancellor of the coalition partners.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will not be deterred from its coalition partners to do the necessary financial transactions in the euro-zone only to tax . This is indicated by a joint paper of the German and French governments to preparation of the EU summit over which the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported . This insure both to support a proposal by the EU Commission, which provides for EU-wide introduction of the tax. The concept also designates the ability to control resistance in some of the UK only to introduce the euro zone.

So it looks as if the Chancellor prepared to move on to the FDP in this matter. Even last Friday, Merkel had informed their government spokesman Steffen Seibert, the federal government decide only that "endorse what all coalition partners."

[...]

Cross-border employment agencies

The six-point proposal by France and Germany will now EU President Herman Van Rompuy be sent, the current to the next EU summit on 30 January in Brussels prepared. The paper also beat Germany and France to some far-reaching measures to stimulate the European economy.
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FDP will avoid exchange tax (FTT) at all costs

While the Union urges the introduction of financial market tax, Brüderle (FDP) wants a financial activity tax. And Roesler (FDP) a stamp duty calls for London model.
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And another one:

Even without FDP financial transaction tax is coming

On the upcoming EU summit in late January this year, the controversial financial transaction tax will be adopted. Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have prepared a corresponding 6-point paper that they are now the EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy information with the EU Summit on 30 January in Brussels prepared.

As is expected with continued resistance from the UK, the paper is designed so that it can be implemented if necessary, even in the countries of the monetary union.
The FDP leadership, however, contradicts even the suggestion that because the tax was only one lead in the euro zone to a brain drain to London is the financial industry.

In addition, Merkel and Sarkozy propose further measures to strengthen European growth, employment and competitiveness.
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As if Italy, Malta, Ireland etc. don't exist anymore..
 
Quote from Rantany:

Ok, it seems that the idea of this stamp duty, is indeed only coming from FDP, and has no support whatsoever from Merkel. So it most likely won't have any impact.

http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/wirtschaft/Merkel-treibt-Finanzsteuer-voran-id18372661.html
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Thanks Rantany for the German to English translations, we need it.

Seems like FDP's Rosler countered Merkel with his UK stamp duty proposal, trying to coordinate with the UK and keep a new tax proposal EU-wide. This posturing gives Rosler cover for a firm "no" on FTT. Now Merkel will need to move forward on FTT despite her coalition partner and Vice Chancellor saying no. The blanks we have on German governance will be filled in soon. Might Merkel's coalition fail over this and could this lead to new German elections now? Does Merkel think she has a better chance now for a new coalition and staying Chancellor, while her FTT proposal might be at a zenith? If the EU crisis worsens and FTT fails, she may fair worse later. I need to learn Germany's governance better. Anyone else know how this works in Germany?
 
(it's just Google translation, nothing special ;)

But to be honest, i think that, with that tremendous amount of pressure, FDP can't hold his position much longer. They can't afford to have new elections with only 2% in the polls.

I guess that if all other EZ countries could agree with the FTT proposals (especially if they are part of the new treaty), the FDP won't have any choice, other than agree to it also. Merkel is aware of that too.

So after Cameron's refusal, the pressure will be on Monti at the coming EU Summit. If he will change his position, it leaves only Malta, Cyprus, Ireland and Slovenia. Then the question would be if, without further support from Italy, these small countries are strong enough to block the FTT, or even the whole treaty, for all Eurozone members.

If Monti won't changes, then there will be most likely no FTT at all.



//edit: This quote from sheda could be a hint for Monti, to convince him why it is better for him to change his opinion.

Bailouts will only be offered to European governments that ratify a new budget pact aimed at avoiding a repeat of the eurozone debt crisis, according to a new draft of the treaty
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Quote from Rantany:

(it's just Google translation, nothing special ;)

But to be honest, i think that, with that tremendous amount of pressure, FDP can't hold his position much longer. They can't afford to have new elections with only 2% in the polls.

I guess that if all other EZ countries could agree with the FTT proposals (especially if they are part of the new treaty), the FDP won't have any choice, other than agree to it also. Merkel is aware of that too.....
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How can FDP cave in - and be blamed for decades - for helping pass the Socialist Tax (FTT) that probably will be the stick to break Europe's free-market back? I think they need to stand by their convictions and vote no, even if they are forced out of government. A new CDU coalition with left or socialist parties will probably have big troubles being so anti-finance and free-markets with Europe getting worse before it gets better. Maybe, the FDP can rebuild and be more vocal in opposition.

FDP Rosler probably has a back-door cooperation with UK's Cameron on the stamp duty FTT-defusal idea. Anglo-American banking has one high-ranking friend left in Germany.

PS. Another article on how many German leaders think they are at war with Anglo-American banking.

Rating Agency Downgrades: 'Anglo-American Interests' and the Currency War Myth - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,809696,00.html
 
Quote from Robert A. Green:

How can FDP cave in - and be blamed for decades - for helping pass the Socialist Tax (FTT) that probably will be the stick to break Europe's free-market back? I think they need to stand by their convictions and vote no, even if they are forced out of government. A new CDU coalition with left or socialist parties will probably have big troubles being so anti-finance and free-markets with Europe getting worse before it gets better. Maybe, the FDP can rebuild and be more vocal in opposition.
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It sure could be that the FDP will vote against if necessary, but it doesn't matter, because ALL the other parties in parliament will vote in favor (yes it's ridiculous), so the FDP would be overruled by the largest majority possible (even the party itself is divided).

The only way for the FDP to stop the FTT (for a while), is to step out of the coalition, and to force new elections. But it seems that even with their own voters, there is such an overwhelming support for the FTT, that if they would break up now, the party would be minimized, and the plans for the FTT will just continue with the new CDU/SPD coalition. So they have much more to lose than to win by doing that. I guess they wouldn't take the risk, rebuilding with only 2% in the opposition, but that they will stick to the coalition, hoping that in the (near) future, they could win their voters back. After all, it's all politics.
 
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