Taxing the Speculators
many thanks for the article...(posted to nettime)
...who gets to decide what is 'socially useless'? ...there are already a myriad of barriers of just this kind that serve only to protect the financial traffic of the ultra rich, while effectively serving to prevent smaller players (e.g. individuals) from benefiting from the Market in ways that the Aristocracy would like to preserve for itself.
Instead, why not simply harness the earning potential of the Market for the greater good?
In the US, we need to harness the power of the financial Market (i.e. Wall Street) for the Public - as in a 10% issuance of public shares of all publicly traded companies, and a 10% issuance of all tradable derivatives (e.g. crude oil, gold, etc.) for the financing of public interests (e.g. healthcare, education, social security, etc.). The financial bailouts of 2008-2009 have proven that we have the political will to connect the Market sphere to the Public sphere in ways previously unimaginable, for the benefit of financial stability and reinvestment in American interests. If the American government (i.e. public) can help to support the financial markets, the financial markets can reciprocate the favor. The Market should work for the Public, as well as the reverse.
nick
Nicholas Ruiz III, Ph.D
NRIII for Congress 2010
http://intertheory.org/nriiiforcongress2010.html
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Editor, Kritikos
http://intertheory.org
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Tobin Tax redux: "First they ignore you; then they laugh at you; then they
attack you; then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi
New York Times/ Intenl Herald Tribune, Nov 27/29, 2009.
original at: http://bit.ly/5uo46S
Taxing the Speculators
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Should we use taxes to deter financial speculation? Yes, say top British
officials, who oversee the City of London, one of the world’s two great
banking centers. Other European governments agree — and they’re right.
Unfortunately, United States officials — especially Timothy Geithner, the
Treasury secretary — are dead set against the proposal. Let’s hope they
reconsider: a financial transactions tax is an idea whose time has come.
The dispute began back in August, when Adair Turner, Britain’s top
financial regulator, called for a tax on financial transactions as a way
to discourage “socially useless” activities. Gordon Brown, the British
prime minister, picked up on his proposal, which he presented at the Group
of 20 meeting of leading economies this month...
