Arthur wrote:
> The Tobin tax explained - FT.com
>
> by Martin Sandbu
>
> [snip]
>
> The original purpose of putting the brakes on currency speculation...
Yes, I knew that.
> ...has been somewhat eclipsed among activists who have increasingly
> seen the Tobin tax as a good way of raising revenue for economic and
> social development.
Which, according to the original article in the Telegraph, doesn't
seem to be going as well as hoped.
> Tobin himself disowned activists' adoption of his proposal for
> revenue-raising purposes, which he thought missed the point of the
> proposal:...
If you tax wild and wooly cowboy currency speculation, arbitrage in
derivative or whatever clever thing is going this week, people whose
anticipated profits are reduced to zero or less will stop doing it.
The tax coffers don't fill up according to any predictions made on the
specious assumption that they *wouldn't* stop, of course. But that
would be because the smug bastards harrumphed in their martinis and
stopped.
> ...to reduce the socially harmful effects of finance while keeping
> its benefits.
Yeah, that.
- Mike
--
Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~.
/V\
[email protected] /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^
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