We need a Financial Activities Tax.
Boy with Bow and Arrow, Doris Ulman, 1933, US Library of Congress
In our latest Prime Publication The Robin Hood Tax Wont Do the Trick, Professor John Grahl and Professor Photis Lysandrou present their argument for a Finanicial Activities Tax (FAT) to replace the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) which was introduced by the EC in 2011.
While they broadly agree with the objectives behind the FTT, Grahl and Lysandrou argue that the approach is too simplistic and relies on a flawed understanding of the functioning of short term trading. Instead, ‘a tax on the total income of the sector (a FAT), would raise more money with fewer unintended effects’.
For a longer discussion of this topic, see the authors’ 2013 article in The Journal of Common Market Studies.
