Europe May Act Alone on Financial Transaction Tax

[marmar]

from Der Spiegel:



German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on Monday that the EU should launch a financial transactions tax on its own if the G-20 summit this week can't agree on such a levy. A draft communiqué obtained by SPIEGEL shows the G-20 plans far-reaching reforms of the global financial sector.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wants the European Union to go it alone with the introduction of a tax on financial transactions if no agreement can be reached at an upcoming meeting of leaders of the G-20 group of top industrial and emerging economies.

Schäuble told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday that he would prefer the G-20 to launch the tax together. "But if we don't reach an agreement there, I'm in favor of starting in Europe," he told the newspaper. If the 27 EU states can't agree, the 17 euro member states should adopt it instead, he added.

The G-20 summit is scheduled to be held in Cannes, France, on November 3 and 4. The United Kingdom in particular opposes such a tax. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,794954,00.html

[Fool Count]

1. It is safe to say that US won't be doing it, so that G-20 initiative

is a time-wasting non-starter. Forget it and focus on EU where it has a chance.

[pampango]

2. If the EU waits for the US to agree to a financial transaction tax they will have a long wait.

It would make sense for all the advanced countries to adopt such a tax simultaneously but that makes too much sense. ;)

[elleng]

4. Yes, but it would be a good start on way to shaming U.S.

Hate to say I'd love to see this, but I would.

[Quantess]

3. Sounds like a good start.

[sabrina 1]

5. Sounds like the Globalists are falling apart. Their one world order

hasn't worked out so well. Not for the billions of people they affected with their not so brilliant ideas, but that never bothered them, but now it is affecting THEM, the wealthy, and they are picking up their toys and going home. I hope they all do, this Global Capitalist thing has been a catastrophic and dangerous failure for a majority of people. Allowing such a small group of people to basically rule the world never was a good idea. But then did the people ever have even have a say in it?

[PufPuf23]

6. A tax on financial transactions would be very positive:

1. Revenue
2. Dampen the effect of market speculation and automated trading portfolios -- less market volatility
3. Tracking transactions.
4. Reduce opportunities for financial arbirtrage