As long as banks are not a social business the way that Dr. Muhammad Yunus defined it, people have to come up with creative alternatives:
The Robin Hood Tax is the UK version of the Tobin Tax which was at the beginning of ATTAC in France ten years ago.
As an anti-poverty campaign, it is more pragmatic than the economic theories of Tobin Tax definitions or the political demands of the Attac network.
Supported by a coalition of 48 organisations, the Robin Hood Tax campaign spells out what the income should be spent on.
And in the spirit of our times, it uses Twitter and YouTube.
The video is set to private until the launch which is set to 0.05am in parallel with the 0.05% tax that Robin Hood wants to take.
However, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, dismissed the idea of a Tobin Tax only recently, according to the FT.
Of course, this tax doesn’t get to the root of all evils, but at least it’s bound to capture people’s imagination!
Updates here.
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I rather like the idea of a tax on non-consumer transactions made by bank. Of course, it’ll be channeled for development causes, but a bonus is the ability of this tax to discourage speculative transactions by bank (e.g. buying and selling currencies/stocks on a whim). I think it should be introduced in other developed nations too.
By: markaz18 on February 17, 2010
at 12:27 pm
Yes, there is an appeal to the G20 leaders by 350 economists asking to make it happen in their respective countries.
Well thought!
By: Sabine McNeill on February 17, 2010
at 6:24 pm
Thanks. Part of the philosophy of this move is probably the fact that if the seven richest people in the world combined their wealth, it would be enough to eradicate poverty altogether. A lack of money isn’t a problem. Rather, it’s the misallocation of money.
By: markaz18 on February 22, 2010
at 9:40 am
Sure,
only even a modern Robin Hood couldn’t just raid the umpteen bank accounts of the rew richest people.
There’s always a good reason for dreaming, but we also have to accept reality and wonder how to bring change about.
I see the Robin Hood Tax as the next best vehicle we have at our proposal.
By: Sabine McNeill on February 22, 2010
at 10:49 am
my name is Yasmine and I have been helping in spreading the word about a documentary that has just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival called “To Catch a Dollar” that covers exactly what your article discusses: Grameen Bank in America and Dr.Muhammad Yunus. In “To Catch a Dollar”, the documentary follows the story of women from Queens, New York who had the opportunity to improve their lives with the loans they can access through this system. Many public screenings were held during Sundance Film Festival, but I strongly suggest that you take a look at this website http://www.tocatchadollar.com/ and hope you’ll get a copy of it once it is out there.
I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did, and please spread the word about it !
Yasmine.
By: Yasmine on February 22, 2010
at 5:34 pm
Thank you, Yasmine,
yes, I’ve come across the film before. WELL DONE for spreading the word here, too!
Your comment has spurred me to add the link under videos on this site.
With best wishes for your communication skills,
Sabine
By: Sabine McNeill on February 22, 2010
at 6:57 pm