Occupy: Social Responsibility Direction Change ROBIN HOOD TAX - City of London Bankers
0 (0 Likes / 0 Dislikes)
Have you heard this idea about the Robin Hood bankers tax? Yes
It's a sweet little idea, taxing the banks to help the poor
But I... I don't think it will work, it's very complicated and it would be very tough on the banking sector
Which has just been given billions of Pounds of taxpayer's money to keep it going
Well, yeah, of course
And is now paying itself billions of pounds in bonuses
Yes
So the tax is a charge on all bank transactions that don't include members of the public
Bonds, derivatives, currency... Speculative stuff, is that right?
Yeah, something... like that very complex
So the bankers would give, how much from each deal they do? 25%?
No... not that much
10%? no
5%? no, not 5
More or less? slightly less
1%? Not quite
Half of one percent? no
A tenth of a percent? no
Half of that? give it a 0.05% of every deal? Mmm yeah, that sounds about right
Sometimes it'd be even less! That doesen't sound like a lot to most people
No I can see that
And how much would it raise
to help people at home and abroad?
Oh, a fair amount, I believe
A million pounds a year?
More than that
A hundred million pounds? Er.. more
Five hundred million pounds?
A billion pounds?
No, it's slightly more than that, I'm told
Ten billion pounds? more
Fifty billion pounds? Yeah.. that sounds about right
In fact, I believe it's likely to be more than a hundred billion pounds
Could be double that? Could be more than double?
Er... yeah, possibly
Right, so let me get this clear
A tiny tax on the banks could raise billions of pounds every year
To help save lives in the poorest countries
Fund crucial action against climate change around the world
And help avoid cuts to crucial public services in this country
Gosh... yeah, that is about the... sum of it
I don't know, perhaps it's...
Quite a good idea