Quote from Sam Mcgee:
If you look at it from the public/non traders' perspective, how do you prevent excessive bubbles or collapses from happening? Unstable prices wreak havoc on the economy. Who caused the run up and then collapse of equity and commodity prices? Weren't traders a big part of that?
More stable prices for equities and commodities would be a lot better for everyone, perhaps even better for traders. What else could you do to stabilize prices besides charging a trading tax? Is there a better way?
There was a transaction tax for 50 years, before, during and after the 1929 crash.
A 0.25% tax will do absolutely nothing to prevent people from buying into bubble mania and selling the crashes.