Tag Archives: Adair Turner

Top UK regulator supports transactions tax to shrink financial sector

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A year ago, it occurred to me that if the popular blood lust against the financial sector was to be given vent, one could do worse than adopt a small (but global) tax on financial transactions.    On August 27 it was reported that Adair Turner, head of the UK Financial Services Authority, had come out in support of just such an idea, arguing that the financial sector is too large.   The Financial Times editorializes against the proposal, pointing out the importance of the sector to Britain, and arguing that “bonus-bashing is a distraction.”  Willem Buiter is with Turner in believing that the financial sector is too large, but views the transactions tax as the wrong policy tool for the job. read more

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