Definition..... Currency transaction taxes (CTTs) or Tobin-style taxes
are national taxes on cross-border currency transactions for the purposes of:
reining in market volume and volatility; restoring national sovereignty over monetary
policy; and raising substantial revenue for urgent global priorities. They can
be adopted by national legislatures, but nations will need to cooperate for effective
enforcement. We prefer and encourage the plural form (Tobin Taxes) rather
than the singular, to show our support for nationally and/or regionally-adopted
versions of CTTs)
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Editorial.....
It has been an amazing 6 month journey, from Geneva to Porto Alegre, Brazil. The growth of the movement for currency transaction taxes (CTT's, also known as Tobin-style taxes) during this short period has been quite phenomenal. And the CTT effort is just part of a larger, fast-growing movement for global justice, labor rights, and the environment.
I didn't do much traveling myself, so these descriptions
are gleaned from the stories of other activists. I took a break from editing
the Tobin Taxes Update (for health reasons) and have just returned to a full workload.
Some of our nearly 2000 readers and subscribers may not have heard the news through
other listserves or articles, so this issue will be a quick review of our rapid
rise, and what it means for CTT activists worldwide.
If you need
more information on any of these stories, check our website at www.tobintax.org
if possible, or email us with your questions. Next month we will return to our
regular format, passing on to you detailed reports as they come in. We now
find it necessary to break the quantity of information up into shorter emails,
as we've had a few complaints about length. But we promise it will never
be more than once a week.
You are now one of nearly 2000 readers, subscribers,
and guests. Your comments are always appreciated. And if you receive duplicate
copies, they may be coming through other lists you subscribe to. We cannot prevent
that, so just delete your extra copies. But if you receive more than one directly
from us, please
let us know so we can correct our records.
Thanks
for your patience during our break from publishing. And for those of you
who have recently subscribed, welcome, and enjoy the ride...
The editor
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A Half-Year of Activism...
Following quickly after the introduction
of a US House and Senate resolution in April 2000, an international parliamentary
sign-on was announced, and hundreds of elected officials worldwide signed-on in
support of Tobin-style taxes. (See http://tobintaxcall.free.fr,
to find your favorite parliamentarian or congressmember.)
By June, activists
were gathering in Geneva to ask the official delegates to the UN's Social Summit
for adoption of a Canadian-introduced measure calling for a comprehensive study
of CTT's. Hundreds of citizen groups (out of thousands attending) worked their
national delegations, and by the end of the week in Geneva,
nearly every country
in the world was backing our request. During the final night negotiations,
consensus was finally achieved by amending the original language to read:
--(111(e)bis)Conducting
a rigorous analysis of advantages, disadvantages and implications of proposals
for developing new and innovative sources of funding, both public and private,
for dedication to social development and poverty eradication programmes--
Non-governmental organizations declared it a victory, as indeed it was. Although it seemed like a small step (it is only a study), the real victory was the turn-around of the delegates. Between April, when we first worked the halls of the UN in New York during the lead-up to Geneva, the votes were not there, and Canada stood alone. So such a shift was phenomenal indeed.
A week later, still during June 2000, dozens of parliamentarians met in Brussels to strategize on their next steps to introduce Tobin-style taxes in their countries. A Founding Charter was crafted for the Intergroup (of M.E.P.s) on Capital Tax, Fiscal Systems and Globalization. The Intergroup is calling for a series of hearings in the European Parliament on Tobin-type taxes. (This followed a near-victory in January 2000 when the EP voted down a measure by only six votes.)
As the heat of a globally-warmed summer hit the streets of the northern hemisphere, activists hit the same streets, tabling and signing up new members in support of CTT's. Across Europe and Latin America, information tables at markets, training workshops in churches, and lectures in large halls spread the world. Membership in groups such as ATTAC (Association for Taxation of Financial Transactions to Aid Citizens) sprang up in new countries, and new coalitions on global finance formed in Germany, Chile, Norway and Sweden.
Also last summer, the US-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
along with ATTAC began circulating an economists statement in support of financial
transaction taxes. Drafted by economists, the statement has gathered more than
300 signers from more than 30 different countries. It has been translated
into
five languages from the English original (Arabic, French, German, Portuguese,
and Spanish). This should help to demonstrate the broad extent of international
support for such taxes among professional economists. The list of signers can
be found at http://attac.org/fra/asso/doc/doc18sign.htm.
Articles by Ross Gelbspan and others appeared in several publications
last fall, with a link between Global Warming and currency transactions taxes.
Gelbspan, well-known author of The Heat is On, explains how the revenue from CTT
collection could be pooled for energy transition in developing nations: to safe,
renewable, non-fossil-fuel-based energy systems. Other uses for the revenue
have been suggested as well: the global fight against HIV/AIDS, hunger,
and poverty, as well as other urgent environmental concerns.
A large activist
conference in Montreal brought North American activists on CTTs together with
Southern partners to hear how such taxes fit into the larger picture of reform
of the international financial architecture. Afterwards, some conferees
joined the crowds confronting the G-20 meeting in Montreal, for its lack of meaningful
action on global finance. The front pages of Canadian newspapers were filled
that October week with images of mounted Canadian police confronting crowds
through
teargas haze.
November not only brought the cold of winter, but also the chill of US elections held frozen, the spectre of votes uncounted and ignored. Despite protests in the streets, the courts ushered in the new reign of King George, and a thick fog of depression descended on the land. Although the results of congressional elections were more encouraging, the overall prognosis for the near future in the US is not.
But November also brought a new forum for hearing
and debating CTTs: again, we were at the UN in New York, this time making
our case to the delegates of nations at the Financing for Development special
hearings for Civil Society. In a first for the UN, the special session heard
civil panelists speak about debt, about CTT's, about trade, poverty, and other
issues related to global finance and development, while the official delegates
listened, asked questions, and engaged in dialogue.
In December,
a high-level panel was finally announced by the UN: to find concrete ways
to combat poverty and finance the needs of developing nations. According
to Robin Round of Halifax Initiative, this panel will consider economic feasibility
of CTTs and other options as it meets over the coming months. Its members
include former heads of state and former finance ministers: Jacques Delors
(EU), Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico), Robert Rubin (US), Abdulatif al-Hamad (Kuwait),
Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), Majid Osman (Mozambique), Manmohan Singh (India),
Mary Chinery-Hesse (ILO), and one nongovernmental representative: David Bryer
of Oxfam (UK).
During mid-December, social movement leaders from all over Africa met in Dakar, and joined in analysis of the debt crisis, structural adjustment, and problems of the neoliberal model. The resulting Dakar Declaration includes as part of its platform a demand for the institution of a tax on capital movements to help citizens (Tobin tax). See http://jubileesouth.net
January 2001. The new millenium, finally? In Sweden, an exciting
new chapter of ATTAC hosted its first public event -- a weekend of speeches and
workshops. More than 1000 people attended, and Swedish newspapers displayed
the new group prominently. In France, meanwhile, ATTAC has now grown to
nearly
30,000 members in just two years.
Also in January. Porto Alegre, Brazil: the World Social Forum, the activist answer to the Davos, Switzerland gathering of elites known as the World Economic Forum. Ten thousand strong in Brazil, activists were welcomed and hosted by the city, held over 400 workshops, suggested positive solutions towards ushering in the wave of the future. Tobin-style taxes figured strongly in the presentations of many speakers, and was mentioned in the televised debate with the Davos elites. The overall theme in Brazil? Another world is possible.
Seems we are everywhere these days. As we grow in courage and numbers, the political will of national congresses, parliaments, and delegates can begin to reflect that strength, and to shift towards the will of the people. Another world is possible...
We can find practical ways to meet the most urgent global priorities we now face.
---Ruthanne Cecil, J.D., Project Director,
Tobin Tax Initiative-USA
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A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS....
Local Cities Actions ... Join the cities that are passing an entire package of resolutions, and declaring themselves Fair Trade Zones. The package includes a Model Resolution Supporting the Tobin Tax, among several other resolutions, and can be found at Global Exchange's website, at
Recommended Reading....
(1) Global
Finance: New Thinking on Regulating Speculative Capital Markets, edited by Walden
Bello, Nicola Bullard, and Kamal Malhotra. Examines a range of approaches
to confront the new speculative global economy. Zed Books
(2) Global Public Goods: International Cooperation in the 21st Century,edited by Inge Kaul, Isabelle Grunberg, and Marc A. Stern. A new understanding of the need for international development cooperation -- beyond aid, confronting urgent environmental and social problems. Contributors include Amartya Sen, Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz and others. Oxford University Press (1999).
(3) New Economic Realitites,
an article by Ismail Serageldin, a vice president of the World Bank, in Al-Ahram
Weekly, Jan 27-Feb 2,2000. He suggests that Tobin taxes are feasible, but
that the revenue could be put into a fund at the IMF and World Bank, to fight
currency crises, and to "remove the temptation to fund good international causes!"
Perhaps he is being humorous.
Order your Tobin Tax posters....directly
from the publisher, at the New Internationalist magazine. You can view a
poster copy at their website, and order it.
See http://www.oneworld.org/ni/issue320/poster.htm
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The Tobin Taxes Update is a newsletter of the Tobin Tax Initiative USA. To
be removed from this list, email us at cecilr@humboldt1.com
-------------------------------
Tobin Tax Initiative USA ...
Ruthanne
Cecil,J.D., Newsletter Editor
website at http://www.ceedweb.org/iirp
Center for Environmental Economic Development,
P.O. Box 4167, Arcata, CA
95518-4167 USA
TEL (707) 822-8347 FAX (707) 822-4457
email:
cecilr@humboldt1.com
Write to us for information on memberships and educational packets.....
Building
Local Support for Global Solutions...
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