http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/us/15tax.html?pagewanted=2 just saw this new article and it sees the political moves as I do in my post above. Repulicans have no winning moves here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/business/global/15views.html this article contradicts a WSJ blog article of tonight too. This articles says US banks are bank taxed worldwide so they can't escape. Also says FTT is dead in Congress. Few other points. 15 basis points is like a minor interest rate surcharge. Current FED lending rates to banks plus this surcharge fee is still at historically low interest rate levels. Explained on my blog. Kudlow said other moves on banks were much smarter but he is wrong. Raising capital requirements, reducing leverage, and other restrictions would chase biz offshore and reduce bank profits. The government wants high profits and a fee for themselves.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/the-curse-of-the-wall-str_b_423302.html give them a finger and the left-progressives want a hand. They make a renewed call for a FTT in this article. For the Nov elections I heard from Democratic campaign people that their strategy is to renew their base.
You mean I have a disgusting attitude for saying it's fair to tax those : - who received bailouts -who caused the crisis through bad lending and securitization -who never ever moved their asses to stop TT talks, hoping for exemptions - who are getting the craziest compensation schemes for years in one of the least stable revenue generating activity( trading ) - whose actual edges on the market are nowadays mostly based on some kind of unfair edge( subpennying, internalization, flashs) - who are capable of the craziest rate of return for their own proprietary trading but barely break-even( or worse ) in the last 10 years for their customers. Hard to be wrong, eh? Where is the conspiracy now? You seem always against the trend, and not just in politics...On ignore now.
(GE) Germany Chancellor Merkel: Could imagine a tax on international financial transactions; CDU party reaffirms commitment to tax cuts in 2011 Headline that just hit a few moments ago
Spot on. I never thought I'd favour any form of taxes but Obama's looks preferable to a financial transaction tax. Obviously we're trying to pick up on the details, I'm not sure about broker/dealers being included, etc but the basic premise that it taxes some of those that caused the crisis and not the whole financial community is right. Recall that Goldman acquired 'bank holding status' during the peak of the financial crisis with their application being nicely fast tracked by the Fed, no questions asked because they were having difficulty acquiring funding and this status gave certain privileges. How many of you know of anyone that has a current account at Goldman Sachs? And we all know that these guys will be bailed out in future as the conventional wisdom appears to be that letting Lehman's fail was a mistake. I don't think I or other traders in this forum will be bailed out if we wipe out... Perhaps Obama and Geithner really are on our side? They've managed to ignore the left wing nuts like Krugman and the anti capitalists that have used the crisis to attempt to drive through broader political aims.
The plot of Syndicate Wars : " Plot Syndicate Wars presents a followup to the events in Syndicate. At the game's opening, the player-controlled syndicate (called the Eurocorp Syndicate) is at the peak of its power (achieved in the previous game), an alliance of corporations controlling the world through a combination of military and economic power, and technological mind control. Corporate decisions are facilitated through a number of AI entities connected through a global communications network. As the game opens, this totalitarian status quo is threatened by the emergence of a virus named "Harbinger" in the global communications system, damaging mind-control implants and leaving citizens vulnerable to co-option. Some of the newly liberated persons, dubbed "unguided citizens," choose to engage in an armed insurrection. The Unguided appear in early missions as random antagonistic elements, but over time form a well-organized militia.[3] Scene viewed through a citizen's mind-control implant The same scene, viewed after malfunction of the implant Viral damage to the global network causes disruption to Syndicate coordinations, with individual stations isolating themselves to avoid receiving rogue communication. The London station, as the headquarters of the Eurocorp Syndicate, attempts to regain authority via direct intervention by the game's signature quartets of heavily armed agents. The bulk of the game concerns the development of armed conflict between Eurocorp and the Church of the New Epoch, a church (led by a group called "The Nine") seeking to undermine the world rule by corporations in favor of subjecting its parishioners to its own variety of mind control. "Harbinger" was their first step in demolishing the existing world order. As insurrections take hold, the player is also obliged to conduct missions to control rogue elements within the syndicate itself, as various sub-corporations change allegiances or make bids for independence. The ironic parallels between the objectives of Church of the New Epoch and the original Eurocorp syndicate itself are abundantly clear throughout the game, and indeed the game can be played from the point of view of the Church itself to similar ends (indeed, it is revealed very early in the game, when played on the Church's side, that the "disciple" in control of Church agents is a former Eurocorp agent who has been converted)." Syndicate wars 1996 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndicate_Wars
Know your enemy- http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/economists-letter-ftt-2009-12.pdf Amazing that professional economists such as Dean Baker, Co-Director of CERP (Centre for Economic and Policy Reserach) can be so ignorant. How does the economic profession attract so many socialists, when these guys have seen fifty years of centrally planned economic sampling in much of the world...all since Keynes produced his General Theory 'masterpiece'... I understand the public not making a distinction between bankers and traders, but for these guys...it is their job to understand the details!