Editorials & Other Articles

Bill USA

(6,436 posts) Fri Oct 18, 2013, 03:15 PM Oct 2013

A Simple Reform Could Save America From Wall Street and Boost the Economy

http://www.alternet.org/economy/simple-reform-could-save-america-wall-street-and-boost-economy-whats-washington-waiting?akid=11054.263688.8cD2Uw&rd=1&src=newsletter911956&t=3

October 14, 2013

It’s a simple tweak that would reign in an out-of-control financial sector, stimulate jobs, generate billions of revenue, and possibly prevent another heart-wrenching crisis. Nobel Prize-winning economists like Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman want it. Billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates want it. Polls show the majority of Americans want it. Even the Pope wants it.

We’re talking about a financial transaction tax (FTT) — a tiny tax of, say, less than half a percent: maybe 3 cents per $100 — on Wall Street trading. It’s simple, more than fair, widely supported by the public, and long overdue.

Over the last weeks, Americans have been kept from going to work and the fragile economy has been strained as members of Congress wrangled over another phony budget crisis, even as the deficit is shrinking. Meanwhile, Wall Street has been raking in billions of dollars in profits from financial transactions. And they pay not a penny in taxes on most of them.

Instead of talking about nickel-and-diming seniors by cutting their Social Security and Medicare, letting our infrastructure crumble, and forcing our children to go without proper education or medicine, we could be returning sanity and balance to our financial system. The FTT would put the breaks on the sort of reckless, breakneck-speed computer gambling that helped tank the American economy five years ago. It could raise hundreds of billions annually. Did you hear that, deficit hawks? We’d have enough to close the funding gaps in states that had their budgets destroyed by Wall Street’s risky behavior and predation. We’d even have enough to invest in new jobs.
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A Simple Reform Could Save America From Wall Street and Boost the Economy (Original Post) Bill USA Oct 2013 OP

It's called "The Tobin Tax" and has been around, as an idea, for years. Grey Oct 2013 #1

Realllly???...BTW the Tobin tax was suggested for currency trading to reduce rapid round-trip trades Bill USA Oct 2013 #3

It's A Money Machine colsohlibgal Oct 2013 #2

this and the Buffet rule for investment income yurbud Oct 2013 #4

we all need to call/email our Representatives and the WH and tell them this must be inclulded in Bill USA Oct 2013 #5

As long as Lonr Oct 2013 #6

K&R ReRe Oct 2013 #7

We need this. JDPriestly Oct 2013 #8

Grey

(1,581 posts)

1. It's called "The Tobin Tax" and has been around, as an idea, for years.

Reply to Bill USA (Original post)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 03:28 PM

Oct 2013

google is just waiting to tell you all about it.

Bill USA

(6,436 posts)

3. Realllly???...BTW the Tobin tax was suggested for currency trading to reduce rapid round-trip trades

Reply to Grey (Reply #1)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 05:14 PM

Oct 2013

in and out of two currencies.

colsohlibgal

(5,275 posts)

2. It's A Money Machine

Reply to Bill USA (Original post)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 04:41 PM

Oct 2013

It's also basically the plot of "Office Space".

Institute a progressive income tax where Warren Buffett actually pays a higher rate than his secretary, go with this tax which is also called a VAT tax, legalize pot and tax the Hell out of it, cut defense spending in half, divert that time and manpower to fixing our crumbling infrastructure and national parks. Life would be good.

All doable if we can get money out of DC and the right people in (which is likely to follow once we get the money out).

yurbud

(39,405 posts)

4. this and the Buffet rule for investment income

Reply to Bill USA (Original post)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 05:17 PM

Oct 2013

Bill USA

(6,436 posts)

5. we all need to call/email our Representatives and the WH and tell them this must be inclulded in

Reply to yurbud (Reply #4)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 05:42 PM

Oct 2013

any tax "reform" deal.

Lonr

(103 posts)

6. As long as

Reply to Bill USA (Original post)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 05:59 PM

Oct 2013

the Fed is allowed to charge interest on every single dollar that is released into the economy, we will never be able to pay off all the debt. Until we correct this, any other action is merely a band-aid on a broken bone...

ReRe

(10,597 posts)

7. K&R

Reply to Bill USA (Original post)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 06:08 PM

Oct 2013

Sounds like a great place to start.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)

8. We need this.

Reply to Bill USA (Original post)

Fri Oct 18, 2013, 06:09 PM

Oct 2013

French financial transaction tax

http://www.eurexclearing.com/clearing-en/resources/faqs/?frag=187982

The French Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), introduced by the 1st Amended Finance Law for 2012, published on March 15, has come into force on August 1st 2012. Administrative guidance was issued on August 2, and implementation decrees were published on August 7.

The FTT refers indeed to three different taxes: a tax on the acquisition of eligible French listed stocks (FTT-Stocks), a tax on high frequency trading (FTT-HFT) and a tax on “naked” CDS on EU sovereign debts (FTT-CDS).

The FTT-Stocks which rate was finally 0.2%, applies to acquisitions for consideration of listed shares of French companies whose market capitalization is over €1.bn on December 1st of the year before the year of taxation. Certificates representing registered shares (such as ADR, EDR) have been included in the scope of the tax through the 2nd Amended Finance Law.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1016&pid=76532

We need an agreement that all nations will impose such a tax for the benefit of their own governments. The tax should be standard across the globe so that no nation can offer trading services without taxing them. It is the lack of international cooperation on this issue that is holding it up.

This is a no-brainer, but if one country imposes the tax and no one else does, it will mean that transactions are simply performed in some tax-free country.

Our government and the government of Britain, of course, are in the employ of big-time investors. Our national leadership is bought and paid for by big money, big investment money. Illegal, bribery, corruption. Yes. But forget about ever ending it. Not as long as both parties are in the firm grip of the rich and powerful.

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