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

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday he is sticking by his call for a possible financial transactions tax as a way of having banks set aside money to be used for future bank rescues.

Brown told finance officials from the Group of 20 leading economies Saturday that they should discuss whether they needed an insurance fee to reflect systemic risk, a resolution fund, contingent capital arrangements, or a global financial transactions levy.

However, the initial reception to his plan was frosty, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying he wouldn't support a day-by-day financial transactions tax.

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=5651d2f7-8952-41d0-9ed3-2b37eab3695e
 
He is just trying to save face, Downing street and Brown went on the offensive the past few days after so many people in his own country critiszed his idea. Brown along with number 10 tried to blame it on the media of only focusing on his tax idea, when they said he gave a few ideas that should be looked at. One of course being the insurance fee, which Brown is now taking credit for:) Brown is just falling to the wayside politically and he is trying anything to win an election. He used to be bankers friends and just a month ago was very much in rejection of the Tobin Tax but all of a sudden new polls come out and he is falling, and now banker bashing is where he thinks he can get votes. So its a mess over there where they will try anything.
 
Quote from listedguru:

Gordon Brown in secret push to sell 'Tobin Tax' to City:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/nov/09/tobin-tax-gordon-brown-city

Why doesn't this give just give up already? It says he's trying to convince the IMF and Geithner to support the tax (still)...

-Guru
More...

Brown is an absolute idiot and is going down swinging, but he knows as well as everyone that he is going down. Needless to say this tax would be horrific, but if they are now so desperate that they are willing to impose only a .005% tax then that would not eliminate the vast majority of trading but it would in my opinion add roughly $30,000 a year of cost to a normal day traders cost of doing business which while that's money I'd rather spend on other things, it will not eliminate my ability to trade and make a very good living and it shouldn't eliminate the vast majority of traders. Having said that, we must remain vigilant against this tax because if it ever gets implemented then the next step is them to increase the tax so let's just keep pounding away and make sure this stops rearing it's ugly British head.
 
According to this piece some advisors in the Obama administation deemed the transaction tax worth of examination. I wonder who those advisors are? Probably Volcker?

"Downing Street insisted Britain had never said it would act alone on the issue. And a No 10 source claimed that some advisers in the Obama administration deemed the transactions tax worthy of examination, despite what Mr Geithner said."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...anks-ndash-but-the-us-is-opposed-1817008.html

It also mentions both the .05% and the .005% rate:


Under one model of the scheme, a tax of 0.05 per cent would be levied on currency, share and derivative transactions. A research paper published last month by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research said this would raise £360bn annually. Yet if a global agreement were to be met, a smaller levy of around 0.005 per cent would be more attainable, raising £36bn.

-Guru
 
Its hard now becuae there are so many articles about it, especially like this secret push to sell Tobin Tax on the city. Its getting ridiculous, like there are numerous articles saying how Brown has now backed off the plan. Also a few where they were blaiming the media for the focus on the tax as being counter productive. That Brown just wanted to open dialouge about banks being responsible for future crisis's( which is fine if done correctely) Brown stated he now started the debate on all this stuff. But the debate was a started months ago and not by Brown about the banks being responsible for future crisis. He just wants to take credit before June so he will not be slaughtered in his election. Which is inevitable. Right now there is an article that comes out every few mintues about all this stuff. From International stand point, its pretty dead. I would now like to see how this develops through congress if anything at all more then the and rhetoric, so we shall see. The NYSE chairman said despiste all the talk and rehtoric , he was told it is going nowhere from sources. So we shall see, but as drukes said remain vigilent. Let Brown sink himself, his career and his own country , which so far he is on track for all three.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top