(source: Forbes)

 

“The reckless behavior of a severely bloated financial sector has given us the worst downturn in 70 years. Let’s do something about it. Let’s put a tax on hyperactive traders.

 

A financial transactions tax can be an effective tool for downsizing the sector and restoring it to its proper role in the economy so this sort of calamity does not happen again. The idea is to place a small tax on financial transactions to discourage speculation without hampering productive investment. Bills recently introduced in the House by Peter Defazio and in the Senate by Tom Harkin call for a 0.125% tax on each side of a stock purchase, with comparable rates on trades of other financial instruments like options and credit default swaps.”