http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...-need-equity-to-become-equitable-1042755.html
A short UK article comparing the UK to Italy.
UK: Individual investors own only 14% of all listed shares.
Italy:More than 25%.
UK: Earnings on gambling are tax free. UK Stocks: stamp duty, dividend tax paid by the company, and then the individual, capital gains.
Italy: No stamp duty, 12.5% capital gains.
Italy: Less volatility, investors are more committed.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1088348
Proponents of the transaction tax like to tell the gullible sheep that the tax will prevent crashes and volatility.
The study includes a period 2 years before and 2 years after India introduced a transaction tax in 2004.
The tax has had no impact on market volatility.
http://www.michiganinvestmentadvise...806/SEC-Announces-Billion-Dollar-Fee-Cut.html
The Investor and Capital Markets Fee Relief Act
securities transactions and registrations will be reduced by $1 billion in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2006.
"This is terrific news for investors," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. "Even by Washington's standards, a billion dollars is a lot of money. Money that ultimately would have come out of investors' pockets can instead now go to retirement accounts, college savings plans, and other investment goals."
(But it's okay to remove $100 billion per year from investors' pockets via a transaction tax)