"France's experiment with the Tobin Tax has proved a spectacular flop. Its finance ministry admits that the scattershot levy on financial transactions has raised just a third of the money expected since August." Anders Borg, Swedish Finance Minister, now gets to say, "I told you so." Perhaps we'll find out how many jobs were lost, how it affected costs of capital and how much damage their FTT did to the French economy. (Although, these day it might be difficult to measure since the entire French economy appears to be sinking into the abyss.)
[...]The SPD complains that the Merkel administration has put the EU financial transaction tax (FTT) on the political back-burner. The Merkel administration agreed to push the FTT in exchange for continued opposition backing of rescue measures in Bundestag votes. With an eye on the September general election, the SPD has been anxious to present to voters its FTT demands as a way of forcing financial institutions help cover the cost of future crises. Dr Merkel has not needed opposition support in previous votes on euro rescue programmes. Each successive crisis vote, however, has seen a slow but steady rise in backbench rebels. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/poli...ions-from-ireland-for-new-loan-deal-1.1356412
Great news here but stay vigilant. The Robin Hood crew is starting a new push in the USA. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/usa-tax-lew-idUSL2N0CY0ZD20130411
WASHINGTON (MNI) - Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, testifying Thursday morning to the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee, was asked by Rep. Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, the U.S. position on the financial transaction tax being supported by 11 EU member countries and approved by the European Parliament in December, the Council of The European Union in January and modified by the European Commission in February. The revised proposal is for a system of financial transaction taxes that would become effective in some of the countries as soon as 2014, if approved by the European Parliament. Italy's version of the financial transaction tax began March 1. The FTT was implemented in the 1980s in Sweden but was discontinued. It is estimated the tax as proposed could raise E35 billion to E40 billion a year. The following is Lew's response: "We have made a different decision in the administration than many others in Europe are making. We have a financial responsibility fee that's been in our budget. We think that's a better way to raise the revenue from the financial services side. And we've made that point both here and in conversations overseas. I think the design element that you're describing is a very troubling one. What other countries decide to do in their borders is their business. "So we can disagree about the best way to tax domestic financial services. But it is not an acceptable policy from our perspective for other countries to create a tax that has an extra-territorial reach and would levy a tax on a transaction in the United States. When I had my meetings earlier this week in Europe I made that point very clearly to a number of European officials, both in the European Community in Brussels and in meetings with finance ministers making it clear that we found that to be unacceptable and we would continue to make that clear. So we're engaged with them. They understand our view and we will continue to do so." https://mninews.marketnews.com/inde...iptopposes-eu-extra-territorial-fin-trans-tax
Look at the lies that the new Robin Hood push in the USA & their parrots, the nurses, are pushing out to the public. https://twitter.com/NationalNurses/status/322385970743894016 "Wall St. can afford it RT @robinhoodtax: Robin only wants a fraction of a penny on each trade on Wall Street! " That's a lie. It's not a fraction of a penny per trade. Stay vigilant.
This is an excellent time to send an email to Secretary Lew thanking him for opposing the FTT. You can do so at the US Treasury website shown below. Secretary Lew won't see these emails, but his staff will. Let them know why you oppose the FTT. It only takes a minute to say thank you. This is a great opportunity for us to be heard on this issue. http://www.treasury.gov/connect/Pages/Message-to-the-Secretary.aspx
Lew said "unacceptable" on extra-territorial reach. That's fantastic. If the U.S. blocks EU FTT from application in the U.S., I imagine the UK and others will follow suit on similar grounds, although it's harder for an EU member to block it. This block and tackle in the U.S. could be enough to put EC-11 FTT application on hold. Without extra-territorial reach it exposes the downside of FTT, losing business to non FTT markets. That changes the cost benefit calculation a lot. With Lew making this very strong statement to buttress what the Obama administration has said all along against FTT, RobinHood is probably wasting their time trying to influence progressive Democrats. It shows desperation and maybe the UK branch of Robin Hood said they need to fix their "American problem" which could sink the whole EC-11 FTT.