Taming the Casino
Bloomberg View has joined its Wall Street customers in coming out against the Financial Transactions Tax proposed by Germany and France, and recommended by the European Union, declaring it politically unfeasible while undermining economic growth.
FTT advocates have positioned it as a “tax on Wall Street,” a response to the profound injustice of the Wall-Street-induced economic collapse that has left Main Street in tatters. This response also comes at a time when bankers’ arrogance and, let us be clear, unchecked power has grown to previously unimaginable heights. This is a tactical mistake. An FTT will not provide justice, nor will it address the unchecked power of mega-banks. Only dramatic structural reform of the kind Teddy Roosevelt understood will achieve these ends. Read more