The Benefits of a Financial Transactions Tax
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December 2008, Dean Baker
The recent economic turmoil has generated renewed interest in a financial transactions tax (FTT). While such a tax will be vigorously opposed by the financial industry, it offers a very attractive mechanism for raising revenue that is arguably efficiency-enhancing. Calculations based on 2000 trading volumes showed that a set of scaled transactions taxes, imposed on transfers of stock and other financial assets, could raise more than $100 billion a year, even assuming large reductions in trading volume.
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Related:
New York Times' 8th Annual Year in Ideas: The Stock Transfer Tax Bob Herbert: Where the Money Is AFL-CIO votes to support a financial transactions tax Aspen Institute endorses tax on share trading Britain’s top banking watchdog supports the idea of new global taxes on financial transactions Germany's Finance Minster calls for global finance tax Americans for Financial Reform adopts financial transactions tax position paper |