September 1, 1999
The original Tobin Tax was proposed by the US economist, James Tobin, who received the Nobel Prize in 1981. It was intended, he said to be "sand in the works" of speculation on short-term currency exchanges, whose huge, untaxed profits have been seen to wreak financial havoc in the world markets.
There's no need to be a banking expert to realise that when 1,587 billion dollars change hands daily in speculation on the currency market*, taxation could be a way to stabilize the markets and prevent repetition of the damaging attacks on individual currencies we have known in our time. Hence the Nobel Prize.
The suggested tax was modest enough (0.1% to 0.25%), so as not to penalize genuine investment. It was politely applauded - and quietly shuttled aside. Until... In December, 1997, Ignacio Ramonet, in an editorial of the French newspaper "Le Monde diplomatique", brought the idea of a Tobin Tax out of its wraps. At present levels of speculation, a tax of only 0,1% on exchange transactions would bring in 228 billion dollars annually. With 1.7 billion people in the world subsisting on less than one dollar a day, it's easy to imagine how this money could usefully be spent. As a direct result of this editorial, ATTAC (Association for a Tobin Tax in Aid of Citizens) was founded on June 3rd, 1998, in France, by a group formed of associations, newspapers and trade unions, as well as individual citizens from all walks of life.
The creative potential of the Tobin Tax rapidly emerged. It soon came to symbolise the endeavour of the citizens of all countries, acting together, to re-appropriate the future of the world and of human society. So many people feel helpless, faced with the power - power which they recognize as unethical and socially disruptive - of the transnational conglomerates and their pawns : international financial institutions, and even our own elected governments. Since its inception, ATTAC has attracted international support from individuals, protest groups and non-governmental associations working for human betterment and sane planetary management The Tobin Tax is the thin edge of a wedge of citizen responsibility, driven into the monolith of international finance.
*Figures given by the Bank for International Settlements (1998).
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