Rep. Pete Stark introduced legislation today that would “simply impose a small tax–of five thousandths of one percent, or 0.005%” on speculative currency transactions, the California Democrat said in on Huffington Post. “The money raised would be put toward investments in children, global health, and climate change mitigation.”
Unless you’re a Wall Street bigshot, you don’t have to worry about the toll this tax will take on your wallet or portfolio. Stark’s “Investing in Our Future Act” (aka H.R. 5783) isn’t likely to impact your bottom line.
“For ordinary investors the costs would be negligible, like a tiny insurance fee against the crashes caused by speculators,” Institute for Policy Studies fellow Sarah Anderson explained in her recent OtherWords op-ed Who Should Pay for the Crisis?, which called for a measure like this on stock, derivative, and currency trading, as well as other financial instruments. Her op-ed has run in at least nine newspapers so far, including The Providence Journal and the Mount Vernon (OH) News.
