The Tobin Tax and the Regulation of Capital Movements

Abstract

International audience ; The adoption of the Tobin tax would be an important political act, a break both with the neo-liberal practices which accompany economic globalisation, and with the fatalism which goes along with them. This idea assumes that the level of co-operation which exists between the nations of the world goes well beyond the narrow framework of G3 or G7 summit meetings. The Tobin tax implies that all governments would have to act within their own financial sphere so as to help control the short-term movement of capital. This would ease the pressure on emerging countries, whose own currencies depend on the major currencies. Moreover, there would also be an easing in the level of commercial and financial competition between the industrialised capitalist countries, as such conflicts often include disagreements over current exchange rates. This paper undertakes a further analysis of the Tobin tax, rebuttes the usual criticisms of this idea by certain so-called experts, and shows its merits and limitations.