A comment on the Tobin tax, which I have always thought was a
great idea, and I hope it still is -- but I was recently at a
talk by George Soros in which someone asked him about this.
He replied that he had intended to push it in his new book, but
that, after looking into it, he concluded that it was no longer
workable, because there are many novel forms of currency
trading and international transactions -- through new instruments
that have just been invented in the last few years -- and many of
these cannot be monitored or controlled by governments. A Tobin
tax, he said, would just create a perverse tax-avoidence incentive
for people to do their transacting through these instruments.
I don't know enough about financial markets to be able to
assess this conclusion (I don't even know the names of many of
these new instruments!) -- I'd be interested in reactions from
those who are more up on this. I fear that Soros opinion is one
that has to be taken pretty seriously; he's had more experience
in these areas than almost anyone, and, though he certainly has
mixed motives (the desire for profits continues to burn strong
in him), I believe that his wish to contribute to a world of
sanity and freedom is also strong.
Neva Goodwin, Co-director
Global Development And Enviroment Institute
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
web address: http://www.tufts.edu/gdae
street address:
G-DAE, Cabot Center
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155
