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

FT--Micro-tax call to support poor nations

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4c205dc6-e428-11de-bed0-00144feab49a.html

France is pressing for a modified Tobin tax – a micro-payment on financial transactions – to be included in any agreement at the Copenhagen conference as a means to help the developing world tackle climate change.

Bernard Kouchner, French foreign minister, made a brief round-trip visit to New York on Monday to enlist Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, in support of the French initiative at Copenhagen and of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s separate proposal for a new World Environment Organisation

Mr Kouchner said a “contribution” of 0.005 per cent on all financial transactions could amount to billions of dollars a year for the developing world. This would fill the gap caused by lack of donor funds to meet agreed goals to eradicate poverty in the developing world.

The concept of a micro-tax on financial transactions was first put forward in the 1970s by James Tobin, a US economist, as a way for countries to protect themselves against foreign exchange volatility caused by short-term speculation.
 
Quote from ksharmon:

You can sense the momentum for the possibility of a transaction tax is slowing, I think, in terms of number of articles and overall energy.

I see 2 reasons

(1) The better than expected employment report on Friday

(2) The fact that earlier than expected TARP payback funds can be used as funds for a "jobs" bill or something like a jobs sill which isnt called that.

None of this means we don't need to be vigilant going forward, as the economic winds are quite variable at present. But it is at least a short term positive.

I for one was very glad to read the Germany news over the weekend.
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Agreed. I also sense the momentum gained by groups advocating for this tax has diminished, due to the employment report and TARP payback. We still need to keep the pressure on however, and make sure this tax never see's the light of day.
 
David R. Francis

ECONOMIC SCENE: Is a currency transactions tax an answer to national budget woes?

A 'Tobin Tax' would add a tiny premium to foreign currency trades — with perhaps $1 trillion in benefits.

http://features.csmonitor.com/econo...ctions-tax-an-answer-to-national-budget-woes/

To Da Vid, the holistic, New Age director of the San Francisco Medical Research Foundation, the Tobin tax is attractive because, he figures, it could raise $3 trillion a year (at a 1 percent rate) for good purposes and “doesn’t threaten anybody.” As founder of the “political paradigm” Light Party, with about 1,500 members, Mr. Vid doesn’t carry the clout of, say, a finance minister. But he eagerly promotes the Tobin tax.
 
David Prosser: Time to make the banks pay their share

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...o-make-the-banks-pay-their-share-1836150.html

All that said, a tax on bankers' bonuses is not the best way to raise money or even to address public outrage. It will focus on too narrow a group of individuals, leaving the banks' shareholders free to enjoy the fruits of the abnormal market in which they have been operating. While a windfall tax on bank profits might not be wise in an environment in which we are trying to encourage stronger capital reserves, a small levy on all banking transactions would raise far more than a focus on bonuses without being an impediment to balance sheet bolstering.

The so-called "Tobin tax" is, of course, what the Prime Minister had been hoping to secure international agreement on at the last G20 summit – he fears a move to impose such a tax unilaterally would be far more damaging to London than a nimble attack on bonuses.

Unfortunately, persuading other countries to sign up for the tax proved too big an ask for the man who saved the banks. So now he is seeking payback in a much more modest fashion (though the electoral rewards are potentially greater).
 
Quote from tomahawk:

Obviously. But some in Washington want a tax to pay for creation of "real jobs", and if it costs a few jobs at the "casino", so be it.

Trust me, I'm on your side. I just know that's how DeFazio and his ilk think.
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Time to stop being defensive about being a trader. The fact is that if you "lose your job", several things are going to happen: some brokerage firms are going out of business, some software/support type firms are gone (chances are GreenTrader will have a problem by the way), lots of people lose their jobs, and spreads widen which raises costs on everyone. Traders as a group provide an important function...liquidity. From that, alot of other companies/people have jobs. I wouldn't hide from your "job".

OldTrader
 
Labour opens new front in battle with the City

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/08/pre-budget-report-tax-banks

Gordon Brown is planning to escalate Labour's growing war with the City by threatening two more levies on banks in addition to the tax on bonuses due to be announced tomorrow by the chancellor.

Alistair Darling will use tomorrow's pre-budget report to impose a one-off tax on this year's bonus round, but No 10 will further step up the squeeze on the Square Mile on Thursday with a 60-page report making the case for a so-called transactions tax on all City trading, and an insurance scheme to stop taxpayers being forced to foot the bill for any future banking crises....

Darling's tax on bankers' bonuses to be announced tomorrow may not in itself raise significant sums. But the government's new-found appetite for challenging the City is winning enthusiastic support from Labour MPs, and the decision to follow this up immediately with the threat of two further taxes is hugely symbolic.

The prime minister and the chancellor are determined to keep up their populist attack on high-rolling bankers, who have infuriated the government by rapidly returning to business-as-usual.
 
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