The Tobin Tax: Recent developments

The American economist, James Tobin, first made the suggestion for a tax on currency transactions to dissuade short term currency speculation in the 1970s. Recently the idea of a more general 'Tobin-like' tax on financial transactions has been discussed, in the wake of the global financial crisis. In January 2013, eleven Member States agreed to pursue the introduction of a Tobin-like tax, as consensus on an EU-wide tax proved impossible. The UK is not one of the participating States. This note looks at these developments.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Financial transactions tax: UK launches legal challenge http://www.europeansources.info/record/financial-transactions-tax-uk-launches-legal-challenge/

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