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=3October 14, 2013
Its 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.
Were 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. Its 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? Wed have enough to close the funding gaps in states that had their budgets destroyed by Wall Streets risky behavior and predation. Wed even have enough to invest in new jobs.
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Grey
(1,581 posts)google is just waiting to tell you all about it.
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)in and out of two currencies.
colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)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)Bill USA
(6,436 posts)any tax "reform" deal.
Lonr
(103 posts)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...
Sounds like a great place to start.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)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.