The Agenda for the Party

The Bankers and the Revolutionaries - NYTimes.com

For then entire column by Nicholas Kristof please go to the link in the header. I have heard conservatives make fun of how the Wall Street protesters have no specific demands and do not know what they want. Very often, suffering knows no bounds but discontentment. In all protests it remains the business of leaders to come up with the details that will satisfy the dissatisfaction. Here Kristof articulates some of the specifics that can be offered, all of which make good sense. However, Mitt Romney is campaigning on "repeal the Dodd-Frank legislation" that is designed to prevent the very abuses that led to the world in recession. It simply makes no sense to me to want to continue business as usual when we are living the results of that laissez-faire philosophy. Personally, I can think of a couple of specifics I would add to this list so it is not as though the protesters just went there for the party.



¶Impose a financial transactions tax. This would be a modest tax on financial trades, modeled on the suggestions of James Tobin, an American economist who won a Nobel Prize. The aim is in part to dampen speculative trading that creates dangerous volatility. Europe is moving toward a financial transactions tax, but the Obama administration is resisting — a reflection of its deference to Wall Street.
¶Close the “carried interest” and “founders’ stock” loopholes, which may be the most unconscionable tax breaks in America. They allow our wealthiest citizens to pay very low tax rates by pretending that their labor compensation is a capital gain.
¶Protect big banks from themselves. This means moving ahead with Basel III capital requirements and adopting the Volcker Rule to limit banks’ ability to engage in risky and speculative investments. Another sensible proposal, embraced by President Obama and a number of international experts, is the bank tax. This could be based on an institution’s size and leverage, so that bankers could pay for their cleanups — the finance equivalent of a pollution tax.
Much of the sloganeering at “Occupy Wall Street” is pretty silly — but so is the self-righteous sloganeering of Wall Street itself. And if a ragtag band of youthful protesters can help bring a dose of accountability and equity to our financial system, more power to them.