Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Support The Robin Hood Tax


A coalition of British organizations calling itself the Robin Hood Tax campaign is proposing a new tax on banks to fund global anti-poverty and anti-climate change initiatives. The idea is to skim about 0.05% off of all speculative banking transactions, which proponents say would raise hundreds of billions of dollars each year and forge "a new deal between banks and society":

"It sounds complicated, but actually it isn't. A tiny tax on bankers has the power to raise hundreds of billions every year - giving a vital boost to the NHS, our schools, and the fight against child poverty - as well as tackling poverty and climate change around the world."

In an ad for the campaign, British actor Bill Nighy, who will star in the next installment of the Harry Potter films, plays a haughty banker who's forced to admit the tax would barely phase the finance industry.

1 comment:

Flying Junior said...

1/20 of one percent might be expressed as one shilling compared to one hundred pounds sterling. In early times, one shilling could surely pay for food and lodging. What did the bankers do with the hundreds of pounds found in their accounts?