As proposed by financial industry veterans with the Chicago Political Economy Group, a financial transaction tax or "Tobin tax" of only a fraction of a percent on the value of each Wall Street transaction could generate between $200 billion to as much as $500 billion a year in federal revenues.
The level of tax being proposed might have a slightly discouraging effect on unnecessary "churning" of investors' acocunts on Wall Street, and over time might even cause a small decrease in the size of the US financial industry.
But that would be a positive result, because the financial side of the US economy has grown so large since the late 1980s that it has parasitized some of the "Main Street," real-world economy.
Meanwhile, many Wall Street insiders have grown adept at buying and selling securities unnecessarily, in order to earn more fees from their clients, with no apparent improvement in how well their clients' portfolios have done in the market.
By slightly taxing each Wall Street transaction, a federal "Tobin tax" could help to correct both problems, while generating new government revenues that might be employed in funding new job creation programs, or in reducing the size of the federal deficit.
Why don't Democrats and Republicans alike, along with most of the "99 percent" that the Occupy movements purport to represent, come together to support this financial reform?
The level of tax being proposed might have a slightly discouraging effect on unnecessary "churning" of investors' acocunts on Wall Street, and over time might even cause a small decrease in the size of the US financial industry.
But that would be a positive result, because the financial side of the US economy has grown so large since the late 1980s that it has parasitized some of the "Main Street," real-world economy.
Meanwhile, many Wall Street insiders have grown adept at buying and selling securities unnecessarily, in order to earn more fees from their clients, with no apparent improvement in how well their clients' portfolios have done in the market.
By slightly taxing each Wall Street transaction, a federal "Tobin tax" could help to correct both problems, while generating new government revenues that might be employed in funding new job creation programs, or in reducing the size of the federal deficit.
Why don't Democrats and Republicans alike, along with most of the "99 percent" that the Occupy movements purport to represent, come together to support this financial reform?