The British prime minister, who on Wednesday introduced a one-time 50pc tax on bankers' bonuses, said that "global taxes will not be introduced unless all global financial centres are able to come behind them, but I believe there's global support for that." Governments around the world are shouldering ever greater debt as the cost of rescuing the financial system and the downturn combine to drive up their borrowing. Mr Brown first mooted the idea of a global tax on financial transactions earlier this year but the idea was immediately dismissed by the US government. Bailing out the banks has cost $5.3 trillion globally and plans for a global tax, known as a Tobin tax after an the US economist who first devised such an idea, would be aimed at paying for the cost of any future rescue. With an election less than six months away, Mr Brown is also trying to tap into public anger over the return of the era of large bonuses. In the pre-Budget report, Alistair Darling said that all bonuses over £25,000 will be hit with a 50pc tax. Mr Sarkozy, who has said that London is one of the big losers of the financial crisis, said today that France will follow the UK in imposing a tax, though he gave no details. “We can only tax them if we tax them both sides of the Channel,” Mr Sarkozy said. “In the decision that Gordon and I are taking together, we want and we wait for others to do the same, because we are in a globalized world.” The UK prime minister's attempt to muster support for a global tax was lent support today by the European Union which called on the International Monetary Fund to recommend the proposal. A so-called Tobin tax would discourage short-term speculation with the aim of limiting the risk of instability on financial markets.Gordon Brown says support is growing for a global tax on finance
Gordon Brown said today that there's growing support for a tax on financial transactions to ensure banks shoulder the cost of any future crisis.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
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