The Benefits of a Financial Transactions Tax


 

Publication Date:

Publisher: Center for Economic and Policy Research

Author(s): Dean Baker

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Tax rates; Recession

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The recent economic turmoil has generated renewed interest in a financial transactions tax (FTT). While such a tax will be vigorously opposed by the financial industry, it offers a very attractive mechanism for raising revenue that is arguably efficiency-enhancing. Calculations based on 2000 trading volumes showed that a set of scaled transactions taxes, imposed on transfers of stock and other financial assets, could raise more than $100 billion a year, even assuming large reductions in trading volume.