The Tax Plan That Occupy Wall Street Loves – Yuval Rosenberg (The Fiscal Times)

October 30, 2011

“The Canadian anti-capitalist magazine Adbusters helped launch the Occupy Wall Street movement this summer when it called for protesters to descend on lower Manhattan on September 17. As the protests spread across the country and overseas – and as Occupiers continue to discuss internally whether they should pursue specific demands, and what those demands might be – the magazine once again put out a call to action, urging supporters around the world to take to the streets yesterday to demand a 1 percent “Robin Hood” tax on financial transactions and currency trades. … Supporters say that a small tax on stock and other transactions would curb speculative trading, reduce engineering of complex financial instruments, and raise much-needed revenues, while enacting a measure of financial justice at the same time. In a letter to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the co-chairs of the congressional “super committee” tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction measures by November 23, a group called Americans for Financial Reform, which is a coalition of more than 250 economic, union, and activist groups, explained why it’s backing the tax:  ‘The deficit problem that the Select Committee must address was to a significant degree created by the world financial crisis, a crisis caused by Wall Street speculation. It is therefore appropriate that we call on Wall Street to help address it. A small tax on financial market transactions has the potential to raise significant revenue and simultaneously limit reckless short-term speculation that can threaten financial stability.’” Click here for more.