Dean Baker, co-director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the influential left-of-centre thinktank, has written in the Forbes magazine (motto: “the capitalist tool”) about the need for a financial transactions tax. In particular, he suggests a 0.25% tax on share transactions – half of the UK level, which could raise $100 billion a year (0.125% on sales and purchases). This would, he suggests, be possible to implement domestically although preferable if globally co-ordinated:

“It is important to realize that while coordination is desirable, it is not essential. There are already large differences in trading costs between countries, with the U.S. being one of the lowest-cost markets. Even with a transactions tax, transactions would still be cheaper to undertake in the U.S. than in many other markets. Furthermore, since investors care about a wide range of services, not just the transaction costs, it is implausible that everyone would move their trades to India to avoid a tax of 0.125%.”

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