EMAIL SIGN UP!
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Bill Gates to Support "Robin Hood" Tax
WASHINGTON - Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates appears poised to endorse the adoption of a controversial financial transactions tax (FTT) to be used as a new source of development aid for poor countries.
Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates appears poised to endorse the adoption of a controversial financial transactions tax (FTT) to be used as a new source of development aid for poor countries. (photo: REUTERS/Paul Hackett)
Such an endorsement, to be included in a report to the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Cannes in November, will likely boost efforts by summit's host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, to persuade other countries, particularly in the European Union (EU), to impose such a tax, said activists who have long advocated what some of them call a "Robin Hood tax".
It was Sarkozy who last February asked Gates to prepare a report for the upcoming summit on new ways that money could be raised to promote development and alleviate poverty in poor countries, particularly in light of the sharp cuts in official development assistance (ODA) from many donor countries that followed the 2008-9 financial crisis.
"The report will acknowledge the controversy around the proposal, … but will make the case for a substantial allocation to development," according to a "Technical Note" on the report that will be presented Friday to officials gathered here for the annual World Bank- International Monetary Fund meetings.
"If G20 members or some other set of countries (e.g., within the EU), can agree on the outlines of an FTT, Bill's report is likely to argue, it could generate substantial resources," according to the Note which was attributed to Geoffrey Lamb, the senior advisor on international policy development at the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
"For example, some modelling suggests that even a small tax of 10 bp (basis points) on equities and 2 bp on bonds would yield about 48 billion (dollars) on a G20-wide basis, or 9 billion (dollars) if confined to larger European economies. Some FTT proposals offer substantially larger estimates, in the 100-250 billion (dollar) range, especially if derivatives are included."
"If a substantial part of the revenues could be allocated to development, this would be a useful addition to resources – and would be additional help to some donor countries to meet their aid comments in the current environment," according to the Note.
Activists who favour the FTT said Gates's position as described in the Note should help their efforts.
"The FTT ship has sailed, and the world's richest man is on board," said Richard Gower of Oxfam International. "We're on course for an agreement which delivers billions to help poor countries fight poverty and climate change."
"Even though the language is not exactly rah-rah, having him confirm the feasibility (of the tax) and that it would raise substantial resources is huge," said Sarah Anderson, the Global Economy project director at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies, who participated in Foundation-sponsored consultations that have taken place over the past six months.
"Buffett now has Obama's 'Buffett rule' named after him, and we're very happy to re-name the FTT the 'Gates tax,'" she said in a reference to the appeal last month by Gates's fellow- billionaire/philanthropist, Warren Buffett, to raise taxes on the "mega-rich" to help reduce the yawning government deficit.
While taxes on financial transactions date back several hundred years, the idea gained new traction after the Asian and Russian financial meltdowns of the late 1990s. Nobel Economics Laureate James Tobin proposed the implementation of an FTT in 2001 as a way to discourage short-term speculation – or "hot money" – of the kind that precipitated those crises.
The financial crisis that erupted three years ago with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and its immediate aftermath added momentum to the idea, which was put on the G20's agenda by its two strongest champions, France and Germany, at its Pittsburgh summit two years ago.
According to a new book, "Confidence Men", by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, U.S. President Barack Obama, who hosted that summit, initially supported an FTT but was dissuaded by the then- director of the National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers.
Britain, which had been a major booster of the FTT under its Labour Party government, has since become the EU's strongest internal critic, in part because of fears that such a tax would affect the city of London's standing as one of the world's premier financial centres.
Nonetheless, France and Germany have continued to promote the tax within the EU. Last week German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called for its adoption as soon as possible.
While most of the revenue from such a tax would be used by governments for national purposes, many advocates have insisted that some portion be devoted to fulfilling previous commitments by the Group of 7 (G7) wealthiest developed countries for development aid and help in adapting to climate change in poor countries. A number of key donor countries were failing to meet those commitments even before the latest series of financial crises.
Lamb's Note stresses the report will argue that the G7 countries should not "retreat from aid commitments vital to poor people's lives" despite the current "economic difficulties and fiscal consolidation".
It will also "welcome the expansion of aid programs by G20 countries such as Korea, China, India, Turkey, South Africa, and Brazil," which if maintained, "would provide over time a sizable 'aid dividend' from their rapid economic growth".
In addition to the FTT, Gates's report will likely suggest raising taxes on tobacco to the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of at least 70 percent. If fully implemented by the G20 and the rest of the EU, according to the note, revenues could reach 170 billion dollars a year, "a small part" of which could be earmarked to a "Solidarity Tobacco Contribution" for global health agencies, such as the WHO, the Global Fund, and Unicef, among others.
A third revenue proposal will be designed to help poor countries adapt to climate change, according to the Note, which suggested the adoption of World Bank/IMF proposals to introduce consistent taxes on shipping and aviation fuels. An efficient carbon-based bunker, according to their analysis, could yield up to 30 billion dollars annually by 2020.
Among proposals for engaging the private sector more directly in poverty reduction, the report will focus on lowering the cost and improving the effectiveness of remittances to developing countries, which are currently running at about 350 billion dollars a year.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
24 Comments so far
Show AllThis clown and his crappy software have cost the world trillions in lost productivity.
He couldn't possibly repay the debt he owes society.
I understand that with his new plan, the financial system will work as flawlessly as Vista.
Yes. If only we could go back to the good old days of typewriters and carbon paper.
Yawn. Another megapredator comes out in favor of a tax he knows he'll never have to pay.
this is encouraging
we need the billionaires to take the lead
all the new laws are completely biased toward money
if we can get the billionaires to back the right issues then maybe america has a chance
now if only he will use the billions on tv ads to support candidates who are not beholden to the tea party
And why is it we should trust these billionares who spend millions every year sheltering their funds from taxation to guide us in making decisions in creating new taxes supposedly in the interests of aiding developing countries? Why is it panels made up of "G" countries that are deciding policies for the rest of the world not the actual governments of sovereign nations. Who exactly picked the G7 or the G20 and based on what criteria?
Since Gate's made his million first in the US, why doesn't he put his money back in our country instead of 3rd world poor nations? Let me tell you why.
His vaccination program is for depopulation of the human race. He is on record stating that this world can;t support 7 billion and with vaccines, the population can be reduced 10-15%. Link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSqcRMVbtpo
Google these words. Gated vaccines depopulation and see the hits.
Next, before you get your next shot, do some research on vaccines. You will be amazed. Especially the one for HPV
Denruter,
I'm about the same age, and like other children back in the 50's and 60's, I lived through all the common childhood diseases, which gave me natural immunity (that and breast feeding) without vaccines.
There IS evidence that vaccines have unintended consequences (a recent peer-reviewed mega-study indicated that modern medicine is the leading cause of death in the US), but this valuable information is lost when the wingnuts extrapolate it into unsubstantiated conspiracies about THE NEW WORLD ORDER and when more rational people dismiss the evidence because they don't like the messenger.
I am 62. I was vaccinated for shingles, as recommended by the CDC. I broke out into a severe red rash and severe hives all over my body within 24 hours. The doctor insisted that I had contact with one of the poison plants -- ivy, oak or sumac, all of which contain urushiol, the allergen that causes such outbreaks. The fact that I had absolutely NOT had such contact did not seem to impress the doctor. He flatly stated that the vaccine could not have been the cause. I don't know yet whether there will be any longer lasting side effects.
I am thinking this FTT tax isn't going to affect his tax liability. When Mr. Gates starts paying his full share of taxes due the US, I'll consider this idea credible. In the meantime I see it as just another shell game.
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/10/26/1215210/Microsoft-Freeloading-In-Washington-State-Courts
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/05/13/165902/microsoft-skype-tax-havens/
http://www.stwr.org/multinational-corporations/how-multinational-corporations-avoid-paying-their-taxes.html
While the idea of Financial Transaction Tax is appealing on it's face, the devil is really in the details. This is particularly so if the U.K.'s overseas dependencies and possessions (Cayman Islands, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, among others, who are the usual suspects in tax avoidance for the uber-rich), can continue to do what they do. If the government of the U.K. is actually serious about what Bill Gates proposes, then they would have to stop decades long practice of virtually ignoring what their tax havens have been up (Labor & Tory governments have both been guilty of this). Seeing as how amongst the offshore banker's client list are First World political figures, their cronies, friends, family, and political backers -- that is highly unlikely.
Ah, the gentle breeze buffets the gate
yet it blows hard in other climes.
Beyond the tie and cuff link crowd
lifeblood spills from REDDened forest fair.
Her walking encyclopedias
traversing millennial paths,
wonder at the sad fetishist shoe,
loving the Earth through feet bared.
Alas who names and writes the words
begets a forgettery broad
of words so ancient and so rich
sing always webs of meaning
sustain from the least to the otherwise
unimaginable of scope and scale replete.
Marginalized, harvested
then denied
that web so fair and fine,
subtle beyond anything material
the source, carried in the heart
flowing silently, belovedly,
Pachamama, Abya Yala, Mae Terra, Mother Earth
Myth unfolds in metanoia.
Inevitably, billionaires will notice the harm unregulated capitalism is doing to all life on earth, including theirs. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet may be the first to take notice and act. The Kochs and other paleocons are likely to remain in denial, in their fortresses, yachts and private jets, until Jesus comes back and raptures them up into heaven. Or until there is a global French-style revolution and then, its "off with their heads".
Direct democracy
So Gordon Brown's Labor did something good while in government in London. Hey, that's great, but the party should have done more of it to get another term.
Wherever Gates is involved, i smell a rat ...
I suspect the understanding is that a good chunk of whatever part of the tax funds are dedicated to "underdeveloped" countries would be channeled through - the Gates Foundation, which, in turn will make sure that it is "spent" on his pet projects, organizations and companies ...
If Gates thinks a transaction tax is a good idea, he can make sure it is implemented by just taking a billion of his dollars (walking around money for him) and spending it on members of Congress. Donate more money than the Koch brothers do to establish his credibility with the politicians, and the bill will pass. Isn't that how it always works?
I agree
this article reminded me of another article i read on CD a few years ago.
excerpts from ...
Tax the Speculators - Ralph Nader
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/04-13
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
{There are differing estimates of how much such Wall Street transaction taxes can raise each year. A transaction tax would, however, certainly raise enough to make the Wall Street crooks and gamblers pay for their own Washington bailout. Lets scan some figures economists put forth.
The most discussed and popular one is a simple sales tax on currency trades across borders. Called the Tobin Tax after its originator, the late James Tobin, a Nobel laureate economist at Yale University, 10 to 25 cents per hundred dollars of the huge amounts of dollars traded each day across bordered would produce from $100 to $300 billion per year.}
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
{Pollin writes in the current issue of the estimable Boston Review: "A small tax on all financial-market transactions, comparable to a sales tax, would raise the costs on short-term speculative trading while having negligible effect on people who trade infrequently. It would thus discourage speculation and channel funds toward productive investment." He adds that after the 1987 stock market crash, securities-trading taxes "or similar measures" were endorsed by then Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole and even the first President Bush. Professor Pollin estimates that a one-half of one percent tax would raise about $350 billion a year. That seems conservative. The Wall Street Journal once mentioned about $500 trillion in derivatives trades alone in 2008-the most speculative of transactions. A one tenth of one percent tax would raise $500 billion dollars a year, assuming that level of trading.
Economist Dean Baker says a "modest financial transactions tax would be enough to "finance a 10% across-the-board reduction in the income tax on labor.
The stock transaction tax goes back a long way. A version helped fund the Civil War and the imperial Spanish-American War. The famous British economist, John Maynard Keynes, extolled in 1936 a securities transaction tax as having the effect of "mitigating the predominance of speculation over enterprise." The U.S. had some kind of transaction tax from 1914 to 1966.}
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
…peace…
Way to go Mr. Gates! The Financial Transactions Sales Tax or "Gates Tax" is missing something thou, what must be included/attached is a trade agreement that calls for shareholder participation (like our electric co-ops), a provision for fair labor standards and conditions--guaranteed workers vacation time, family time, community/civic time, healthcare, etc..
Hi
I just started the petition on the White House site, thought you might like to sign it: http://wh.gov/gLV
If you support this petition, please forward it to like minded people who might like to show their support to our cause by signing the petition. Need >5000 signatures in next 30 days to pass the threshold of consideration.
You can read more about this topic at my facebook page, that you are very welcome to join:-
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&¬e_id=2444586520541
Thank you very much for your time and support!
- Sunil
My hats off to Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Barrack Obama! This is a no brainer. It is clear that tax laws implemented since the Reagan years with the "Trickle Down" mentality were not going to work, simply due to one problem; Greed! If these two great men set an example, perhaps some of the other U.S. richest people, would agree and follow suit, we could easily pull this country out of its huge deficit! We could put alot of people back to work. Without mention of names, in 2004/2005 I worked for any extremely wealthy man on Orcas Island. He had been careless and left his tax documents out. When I saw what his income was, I was shocked. The small business I helped him assemble was a fun project he tried on this Island where he had a summer home. He hired 8 people to run it. He paid all employees $.50 above minimum wage, with no health insurance or any other benefits. He paid me $15/per hour with no additional benefits. His income on his tax statements showed an income of $27 Million. Does that sound like trickle down is a good thing, or was it the rich enslaving desperate people who needed groceries? I think the answer is clear!
Let's get something clear: what Bill Gates apparently supports is NO "Robin Hood" tax. If the legend of Robin Hood needs to be invoked at all, then it is more appropriate to use it for Warren Buffet's proposal to tax the rich at fairer rates, because that has the potential of actually taking some of the wealth from the rich and redistributing it in the society, however slowly. The proposed financial transactions tax (FTT) will do very little, if at all, to actually touch the wealth already owned by the rich. It will only reduce the profits of traders of equities and bonds, and would discourage some speculators and day traders.
>>Sarah Anderson, the Global Economy project director at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies: "Buffett now has Obama's 'Buffett rule' named after him, and we're very happy to re-name the FTT the 'Gates tax,'"...<<
WTF?! Why "Gates tax"? Why not Tobin tax, although James Tobin's original proposal (made in 1971) was to tax currency trades? Or some other name? "Robin Hood Tax" and "Gates tax"? How moronic is that? Are these people serious? Or so desperate? For one thing, Bill Gates's wealth will not be affected by the proposed tax, except when he tries to cash in his stock holdings.
It's a joke, but a necessary joke, that someone who plays football is somehow qualified to choose how funny munny will be used to manipulate the people of the world. The soft-war buziness isn't the same as football but both are extremely far from the art/science of sociology. And, when you do the math, you find that a large distance from the needs of people is absolutely necessary for qualified decision-making, that is, decisions that keep the people in need, needy, desperate, dependent on... DAS KAPITAL!!!!
What's not a joke is the simple fact that institutions chartered in the people's interests, in radical contrast to das kapital, serve the people extremely well. Small wonder, because they are effectively the people serving themselves, if only they first thrust das kapital out of the way, preferably into the deep ocean. We certainly don't need das kapitalist soft-war. That's been proven undeniably.