Webinar: Wall Street Speculation Tax

A Wall Street Speculation Tax: A tool for financial stability and economic recovery

Webinar briefing sponsored by AFL-CIO; Americans for Financial Reform; Center for Economic and Policy Research; Communications Workers of America; The Main Street Alliance; Public Citizen

Monday, June 10, 12-1pm EDT

Presenters:

  • Van Jones – President and co-founder of Rebuild The Dream
  • Dean Baker – Co-founder and co-director of the Center for Economic & Policy Research
  • Damon Silvers – Director of Policy and Special Counsel for the AFL-CIO
  • David Borris – Owner of Hel’s Kitchen Catering in Northbrook, IL

What if there was a policy idea with the ability to raise hundreds of billions of dollars, make Wall Street shoulder more of the responsibility for the United States’ economic recovery, and curb the kind of dangerous high-frequency trading that puts the financial system at risk?  Well, there is. A small speculation tax could do all of that, at no noticeable cost to ordinary investors or families.

A Wall Street speculation tax would raise significant revenue from a sector of the economy that is woefully under-taxed. Finance currently generates some 30 percent of the nation’s total corporate profits, while paying only about 18 percent of corporate taxes and contributing just two percent of total tax revenues.

Similar taxes already exist in more than 30 countries, including the financial centers of Hong King, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and seven other European nations are preparing to adopt a coordinated speculation tax. The editorial pages of the Boston Globe, USA Today, and the New York Times have praised the idea. So have Warren Buffett, Sheila Bair, Bill Gates, John Bogle, and Paul Volcker, among others.

Take an hour to learn how a speculation tax would actually work, and how to push back against the financial industry distortions that have helped keep it off the policymaking table – so far.

RSVPs are welcomed but not required. To do so, e-mail Marvin Silver at Americans for Financial Reform (marvin@ourfinancialsecurity.org).

For a PDF with participant instructions, please contact the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.