Click here to view AFR’s “Why We need a Financial Speculation Tax”.

A Financial Speculation Tax ( or Financial Transaction Tax) would be a tiny tax on Wall Street trading in stocks, bonds, foreign currency, derivatives, and other complex financial products. Senator Harkin and Representative DeFazio have proposed a tax of 3 basis points – just 3 cents per $100 traded – on stocks, bonds, and derivatives transactions. According to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation, this tax would raise $350 billion over ten years, and close to $50
billion in its tenth year of operation. A tax of 10 basis points (10 cents per $100) on financial transactions, like the tax proposed by the European Union, could raise close to $1 trillion over 10 years if enacted in the United States.