The Robin Hood Tax

[HeluCopter29]

http://www.robinhoodtax.org/

Basically it's sorta like sales tax but for wall street. The percent varies per transaction size but doesn't get higher then .5%. It would apparently raise large amounts of revenue. $265 billion if trading volume were to decrease by 25%. $353.8 billion if no trading decrease.

I think it's a good idea. What are your thoughts?

All the math is here: http://www.cepr.net/documents/public...ue-2009-12.pdf

[chipwhich]

It doesn't solve any debt problems, just pays for tax increases for the standard pork line items.

[HeluCopter29]

It doesn't solve any debt problems, just pays for tax increases for the standard pork line items.

Well I wouldn't sneeze at dropping a quarter of the deficit. That much less to cut from non pork line items.

[chipwhich]

Well I wouldn't sneeze at dropping a quarter of the deficit. That much less to cut from non pork line items.

The national deficit is 17 trillion and you are talking about billions of dollars?????????????????????

[HeluCopter29]

The national deficit is 17 trillion and you are talking about billions of dollars?????????????????????

you're confusing the debt and the deficit.

Debt=17 trillion
Deficit=1.2 trillion.

[chipwhich]

you're confusing the debt and the deficit.

Debt=17 trillion
Deficit=1.2 trillion.

Not confusing anything, what you are proposing is your wife saying hey we owe a trillion dollars in this years credit card debt and you are saying I can save you a million.

It's not solving anything.

[HeluCopter29]

Not confusing anything, what you are proposing is your wife saying hey we owe a trillion dollars in this years credit card debt and you are saying I can save you a million.

It's not solving anything.

To pay off the $17 trillion debt, we have to stop spending more money then we're taking in.

We spend $1.2 trillion more then we take in, AKA the deficit.. There is no singular fix that will solve that problem.

This is one thing that we, as a country, should probably consider in order to fix the issue.

[chipwhich]

To pay off the $17 trillion debt, we have to stop spending more money then we're taking in.

We spend $1.2 trillion more then we take in, AKA the deficit.. There is no singular fix that will solve that problem.

This is one thing that we, as a country, should probably consider in order to fix the issue.

Medicare Social Security and Defense are where the cuts need to be made to "fix" the problem. It's pretty singular.

[HeluCopter29]

Medicare Social Security and Defense are where the cuts need to be made to "fix" the problem. It's pretty singular.

Apparently there's other options.

See: The Robin Hood Tax

---------- Post added January-16th-2013 at 12:22 AM ----------

Medicare Social Security and Defense are where the cuts need to be made to "fix" the problem. It's pretty singular.

Also, you know that medicare and social security have NO affect on our current budget issues, right?

[chipwhich]

Also, you know that medicare and social security have NO affect on our current budget issues, right?

Yeah it's already paid for right You might want to dig a little deeper.

[Rdskns2000]

A 2% national sales tax would raise a lot of money, For the lowest income rate that still pays income taxes- lower their rate.


I would also have a 2% restaurant tax to help fund obamacare.

[Burgold]

The national deficit is 17 trillion and you are talking about billions of dollars?????????????????????

Ya gots to starts somewhere. Pennies do add up.

I'm wary of going after investment capital for somewhat selfish reasons, but honestly, it wouldn't take me out of the stock market. Seems to me that anyone who would be forced out for a percent or less is doing really poorly as an investor and therefore all the losses wouldn't help them or the government in any case.

[Thiebear]

The national deficit is 17 trillion and you are talking about billions of dollars?????????????????????

10 years ago we screamed about the bridge to nowhere costing 200 million. Now we say if its a billion its no big deal.
And that is EXACTLY how we got to where we are now.

[HaveFaith]

Also, you know that medicare and social security have NO affect on our current budget issues, right?

This is not 100% true.

In the past we were able to "borrow" money that came in to SS and Medicare to cover other general operating costs. (I know kind of a shell game)

Now that we have reached the point where those programs are no longer running their annual surplus (as some would say the pyramid has turned upside down) those funds that we used to borrow with a wink wink nod nod aren't there anymore. The old trust fund we used to love to tap into and give them IOU's doesn't spring forth with cash like it once did.

We have no actuary that will say that Social Security or Medicare will ever get back to running surpluses without a major overhaul (cut benefits, raise costs [taxes], or both)

The "Robin Hood Tax" is essentially "take from those who have for no other reason than because they have"

Although it has never worked anywhere else in recorded history maybe we will be the first nation to successfully tax ourselves into prosperity

[PeterMP]

The biggest argument for these types of taxes is that it encourages long term investing and discourages short term trading based on slight changes in the market, especially high speed trading. It discourages short term profit taking over long term planning, investment, and growth. This type of trading does very little to actually grow the economy. The people that do this type of trading so would end up with lot's transications and therefore a lot of tax, which would discourage their actions.

Large brokerage firms like to do things like figure out when the large pension plans are going to buy or sell stock, and then trade in the opposite manner. The net result is that they make money on the action of the pension plans at the expense of the pension plans. They essentially can trade ahead of the pension planes (at least ahead of a lot of the sales/purchases of the pension plans), make money, and then get out.

Taxing transactions would discourage that type of trading to the benefit of long term stock holders (e.g. people saving for retirement). That you'd get money that might help with the debt would just be bounus.