Post originally published at Economist's View and syndicated at Economics Blogs.
From the Brookings Institution"
Financial transaction taxes in theory and practice, by Leonard E. Burman, William G. Gale, Sarah Gault, Bryan Kim, Jim Nunns and Steve Rosenthal: The Great Recession, which was triggered by financial market failures, has prompted renewed calls for a financial transaction tax (FTT) to discourage excessive risk taking and recoup the costs of the crisis. ...
[...Review of arguments for and against an FTT...]
Our review and analysis of previous work suggests several conclusions. First, the extreme arguments on both sides are overstated. At the very least, the notion that a FTT is unworkable should be rejected. ... On the other hand, the idea that a FTT can raise vast amounts of revenue ... is inconsistent with actual experience with such taxes.
Second, a wide range of design issues are critical to the formulation of a FTT... Third, although empirical evidence demonstrates clearly that FTTs reduce trading volume, as expected, it does not show how much of the reduction occurs in speculative or unproductive trading versus transactions necessary to provide liquidity. The evidence on volatility is similarly ambiguous: empirical studies have found both reductions and increases in volatility as a result of the tax.
Fourth, the efficiency implications of a FTT are complex, depending on the optimal size of the financial sector, its impact on the rest of the economy, the structure and operation of financial markets, the design of the tax, and other factors.
We also present new revenue and distributional estimates for hypothetical U.S. FTTs... We ... find the tax would be quite progressive. ...
[Paper: Financial Transaction Taxes in Theory and Practice"]
Post originally published at Economist's View and syndicated at Economics Blogs.
