Lord Turner causa polêmica

Amo muito tudo isso hehehe. A crise faz com que antigas heresias passem a ser mais seriamente consideradas. O chefe da Financial Services Authority do Reino Unido sugeriu a adoção de um imposto sobre transações financeiras internacionais. Conhecido como taxa Tobin, embora o próprio tenha renegado a idéia depois, é antiga reivindicação de economistas heterodoxos, desenvolvimentistas, verdes e diversos grupos fora do mainstream ortodoxo-mercadista. Copio o post do RGE. Detalhe para os comentários no final...

"Overview: Followig intense debate over UK banking bonuses, the head of the FSA, Lord Adair Turner has suggested a tax on financial transactions be introduced. Such an idea was first put forward by the economist James Tobin and is known as a 'Tobin Tax'. Whether this proposal bears fruit remains to be seen as Alastair Darling dismisses suggestions that the idea is being discussed in the Treasury.

The Proposal

Lord Turner: The ongoing debate on bankers’ bonuses is a “populist diversion” and more drastic steps may be needed to cut the "swollen" financial sector down to size. “[This crisis] requires a very major reconstruct of the global financial regulatory system, [not] a minor adjustment,”

"If increased capital requirements are insufficient I am happy to consider taxes on financial transactions – Tobin taxes. Such taxes have long been the dream of the development economists and those who care about climate change – a nice sensible revenue source for funding global public goods."

The Guardian: The scale of the crisis has brought Tobin out of the shadows. Indeed, Turner appears to be considering throwing the net wider than simply a tax on foreign exchange dealings.

Tobin Tax

Originally proposed in 1972 by Nobel Prize winner James Tobin, the idea proposes a small tax on currency transactions which would raise the cost of any financial transaction. Tobin hoped that such a tax would reduce short term speculation on currencies and "throw sand in the wheels of global finance", in particular with reference to the USD peg to gold. Tobin wanted to reduce the socially harmful effects of finance while keeping its benefits and does not agree with the idea for revenue raising purposes.

James Tobin: "My main objectives for the tax are two. The first is to make exchange rates reflect to a larger degree long-term fundamentals relative to short-range expectations and risk. My second objective is to preserve and promote autonomy of national macroeconomic and monetary policies."

"Most disappointing and surprising, critics seemed to miss what I regarded as the essential property of the transactions – the beauty part – that this simple one-parameter tax would automatically penalise short-horizon round trips, while negligibly affecting commodity trade and long-term capital investments," explained Tobin in 1995.


Varied Opinion


Aides to Chancellor Alistair Darling: No such taxes were under consideration. Mr Darling insists that the banking industry in London should continue to play a leading role in global finance.

Former Labour Welfare Minister, Frank Field: "It looks like Adair Turner has fired the starting gun on thinking more seriously about the City and what it is for and what kind of pay people should expect. When the City has largely made money by moving money around and not by making anything, it is clear the pay is out of kilter."

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Lord Oakeshott: "A Tobin tax is interesting but is unworkable without international agreement, which could take years and probably will never happen,"

British Bankers' Association: Banking sector was a main provider of jobs and tax revenues and could be undermined by the wrong kind of taxes or regulation.

George Parker, FT: Lord Turner’s suggestion of a Tobin tax to rein in excessive profits may turn out to be about as successful as Mr Chirac’s failed initiative. The FSA chairman admits that a global agreement would be “very difficult to achieve”.