This idea is being promoted in England, and as its first cousin America will of course want to follow the lead of the Brits by implementing the Robin Hood tax in the United States. The Robin Hood legend was one of my favorites from childhood, and it is an emotionally compelling story that resonates with many people. Here is one specific example of a Robin Hood tax, although there can certainly be more than one:
A Financial Transaction Tax (FTT):
The best of the lot. A tiny tax of about 0.05% on transactions like stocks, bonds, foreign currency and derivatives. Could raise £250 billion a year globally. Well-tested, cheap to implement and hard to avoid.
In fact, there are already lots of different transaction taxes implemented by many countries, including in the UK. They all work on the same principle: taxing every transaction a very small amount. We think there should be a lot more of them, particularly in areas not yet taxed, like currency transactions and derivatives.
Importantly, transaction taxes are also good in that they would reduce the amount of the most risky transactions, the gambling which helped to trigger the financial crisis.
