STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 26 June 2012

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52. Robin Hood Tax: Economic Justice By Leo Gerard

http://www.nationofchange.org/robin-hood-tax-economic-justice-1340724178

By Leo Gerard

Robin Hood popped up all across America last week. A bunch of green-suited Merry Men protested in front of Wall Street bank branches in 15 cities.

Another felt-hatted group demonstrated in Washington D.C. during J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's testimony about why his bank shouldn’t submit to regulation even after flushing $2 billion down the toilet. The biggest band of Robin Hoods appeared on dollar bills -- a pointy hat drawn on George's head and the words “Robin Hood tax” written below.

The American Robin Hoods are seeking economic justice. They want Congress to resurrect the financial transactions tax. This is the Robin Hood tax, a tiny levy on the sale of stuff like stocks, bonds, derivatives, futures and credit default swaps. It packs two benefits in one tax. It would give the government cash to offset the cost of the Wall Street-caused recession. And it would suppress the high-risk, high-speed trading that caused the crash. Britain, home of Robin Hood, already charges a form of it. Ten European Union countries plan to institute it. America needs it.

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It’s not new. The United States collected the tax for half of the 20th Century. During the Great Depression, Congress doubled it to help pay for recovery. It’s not novel.Twenty-nine countries charge it now, including Brazil, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland. It’s the opposite of a God-forsaken-market-killer. While it was levied in the United States from 1914 to 1966, the nation enjoyed the world’s greatest economic expansion. And it’s a great idea. Lawmakers and pundits are screaming and crying about “the financial cliff” the country faces in December when tax rates will automatically rise and massive budget cuts automatically begin. The Robin Hood tax would help solve that problem....