I Read the senate amendment. It's so poorly written that anybody can be considered HFT in a way. It has really few chances of passing as it is. What is funny is that, to my knowledge, the french markets are free of really detrimental HFT activities like subpennying, flash orders... There is perhaps a bit of spoofing on big tickers but that's all. I guess 99 % of HFTs are just liquidity providers.
1/4% Tax on all stock trades pushed in NY Times today
- Thread starter seasideheights
- Start date
I Read the senate amendment. It's so poorly written that anybody can be considered HFT in a way. It has really few chances of passing as it is. What is funny is that, to my knowledge, the french markets are free of really detrimental HFT activities like subpennying, flash orders... There is perhaps a bit of spoofing on big tickers but that's all. I guess 99 % of HFTs are just liquidity providers.
The front page (cascade) for the site looks good. But I think it needs a title.
I showed it to my wife, and she couldn't figure out what it was about without reading through most of the page. Her reaction was: "It needs a one-sentence teaser, like a newspaper headline, that gives me a reason to read this page."
Maybe start with a question....
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Q: What do Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia all have in common?
A: Okay, yes, they all have universal healthcare... But thereâs something else you should know: Theyâre all against the financial transaction tax (FTT) because most of the tax burden falls on retail investors, retirement savings and pensioners. Swedish research has also shown that the FTT increases the cost of capital to businesses, driving up the price of products and services to consumers. Seems like everybody pays for the FTT â except the banks.
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This simple Q&A makes it crystal clear what the site is about. And at the same time it attacks the BIG LIE that the FTT is a tax on financial instutions when it's really a tax on everybody else.
Also....
The news page looks like a pro-ftt website. Was that your intention? Is there a reason why you're giving Bill Nighy center-stage to promote the FTT?
I showed it to my wife, and she couldn't figure out what it was about without reading through most of the page. Her reaction was: "It needs a one-sentence teaser, like a newspaper headline, that gives me a reason to read this page."
Maybe start with a question....
=========================
Q: What do Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia all have in common?
A: Okay, yes, they all have universal healthcare... But thereâs something else you should know: Theyâre all against the financial transaction tax (FTT) because most of the tax burden falls on retail investors, retirement savings and pensioners. Swedish research has also shown that the FTT increases the cost of capital to businesses, driving up the price of products and services to consumers. Seems like everybody pays for the FTT â except the banks.
===========================
This simple Q&A makes it crystal clear what the site is about. And at the same time it attacks the BIG LIE that the FTT is a tax on financial instutions when it's really a tax on everybody else.
Also....
The news page looks like a pro-ftt website. Was that your intention? Is there a reason why you're giving Bill Nighy center-stage to promote the FTT?
Thanks for the feedback ... now, the cascade page is not the home page, so I'm a little confused here--sorry for being obtuse.
The FTT ABCs page will be the basic facts gateway. That should be ready by the weekend.
The "Let's Talk About Tax" page gets reworked tonight.
As for the news page...
I'm still figuring this one out. One of the reasons I featured Bill Nighy is that he sounds like a complete fool, so I'm happy to let him speak for himself. HAVING SAID THAT...
I do want to include point-for-point deconstruction of the stuff he and the Robin Hood people pump out. There's a link on the home page (at the bottom) that, at the moment, goes nowhere, but is supposed to lead to a "Fact...or Fail!" deconstruction of the Robin Hood Tax FAQs. I want to do the same for the Bill Nighy stuff, and other disinformation as it comes out.
As for it looking like a pro-FTT page...well, I don't mean it to be "pro" or "con" so much as a chronicle of (what I see as the) most significant "story-beats" in this ongoing FTT saga. I don't think one can be an effective proponent of something unless one knows what the opponents are saying. Does this make sense?
Definitely glad to know your thinking on this as it is, obviously, a work-in-progress
[EDIT: Important point--this site was inspired by someone's request on this board for a resource that would be of use to journalists. To that end, it's important, I think, to offer some sense of comprehensiveness and, indeed, willingness to acknowledge other points-of-view, if only for the purpose of annihilating them.
)
Yes, that is my thought, as well. Although I would like people here to understand what I'm doing and why ... if only because I want to keep continual tabs on whether or not I'm doing something stupid.
I agree with you on Nighy. I will be offering point-by-point deconstructions of everything he has to say.
I do think my audience is the "middle-ground." Which is one reason I'm approaching this with a degree of humor (or, at least, an attempt at such), as nothing's more of a turn-off than a cheerless didact.
I've been discussing the FTT with several of my pro-FTT neighbors who think the tax is a good idea just because Ralph Nader and Bill Nighy say so. They're true believers because they've been brainwashed into thinking it's a tax on Wall Street and will have no negative impact on the rest of society.
There are a few things that seem to throw them off their game and make them think:
(a) One is when I mention that Sweden, Canada, Australia and left-leaning countries are against the FTT.
(b) Another is when I point out that the banks don't get hit with much of the tax and most of it falls on retail investors and retirees; and even consumers get hit with higher prices as a result of higher costs of capital.
(c) Then I mention that Lael Brainard, PhD, (Undersecretary of the Treasury for Foreign Affairs), a staunch liberal and former Harvard professor, is against the tax because it lets the banks off the hook while the tax burden falls on retail investors and retirees.
(d) Finally, I throw in that the IMF report prepared for the G20 recommended against the FTT and in favor of direct taxation of banks because too much of the FTT burden would be borne by retail investors and not banks. After reading the report, only four G20 nations expressed unconditional support for the FTT.
For me, those have been the arguments that get some traction. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. But it always makes them stop and think... Sweden? No way!... Really?
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I agree with you that humor is great way to engage the audience.
There are a few things that seem to throw them off their game and make them think:
(a) One is when I mention that Sweden, Canada, Australia and left-leaning countries are against the FTT.
(b) Another is when I point out that the banks don't get hit with much of the tax and most of it falls on retail investors and retirees; and even consumers get hit with higher prices as a result of higher costs of capital.
(c) Then I mention that Lael Brainard, PhD, (Undersecretary of the Treasury for Foreign Affairs), a staunch liberal and former Harvard professor, is against the tax because it lets the banks off the hook while the tax burden falls on retail investors and retirees.
(d) Finally, I throw in that the IMF report prepared for the G20 recommended against the FTT and in favor of direct taxation of banks because too much of the FTT burden would be borne by retail investors and not banks. After reading the report, only four G20 nations expressed unconditional support for the FTT.
For me, those have been the arguments that get some traction. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. But it always makes them stop and think... Sweden? No way!... Really?
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I agree with you that humor is great way to engage the audience.
I've just posted an important report from an independent watchdog group that says Osborne's estimates of job losses under the EC's proposed FTT are accurate.
Posted to:
http://financialtransactiontaxes.com/Financial-Transaction-Tax-FTT-News.html
Posted to:
http://financialtransactiontaxes.com/Financial-Transaction-Tax-FTT-News.html
Great list. Also, what should make your neighbors "think" as well, is that MM's would almost have to be given an exemption (UK style), thus the big banks and big financial firms would make $$ of this deal....a ton of $$.
The problem with pro-FTT'ers that are more in the middle and not crazy socialists (those who will never change their minds because this is a political vendetta against capitalism), is that they have been bombarded by pro-FTT liberal spew and the list you put together with facts is our only hope to open their eyes.
I'll add this as well: TARP has been paid back in full, PLUS interest. Part of the spew is that these people think the banks got free money and never paid it back so it is time to "tax" them to get it back....again, another liberal pro-FTT lie.
Lastly, I would always go back to obama and how even he doesn't support this tax (albeit he wanted it in the beginning) and a "levy" is the only way to go.
Quote: However it is important to note the Commission has now indicated that it "does not agree with" the figure, and points to the fact that the tax could actually help stimulate growth in the labour market.
Growth in the labour market indeed. I would like to see their logic and studies, given that the IMF material and other studies point otherwise.
Their string of recent FTT defeats have caused Barroso and his henchmen to suffer a complete break with reality. They're living in an Alice-in-Wonderland world where people losing their jobs stimulates growth in the labour market.
The EU commissioners pushing this tax are crazy and desperate --which makes them extremely dangerous. Since all else has failed, I'm expecting to see them try to ram the FTT through as a VAT.