A simple Tobin tax is like trying to fight a raging forest fire with a bottle of Pellegrino, or giving a terminal patient aspirin.
Heart attack was not mentioned.
This discussion is getting as unreal as a G7 finance ministers meeting.
Paul Davidson's point that the Tobin tax is not the proper response for the destructive run-away global foreign exchange markets is on very solid grounds. The real damage of the Tobin tax, aside from the obvious increase of transaction cost without any compensating benefits, is the false hope it holds out that may distract from the urgent need to seek real effective solutions to a very pressing and serious problem.
Henry
Greg Nowell wrote:
> Without getting into the economics specifics, let me
> discourage all of you from thinking that aspirin is a
> trivial heart attack palliative. If you or someone
> you know should have a heart attack, the first thing
> you should do is administer some aspirin. It might be
> the single best thing that you can do. Then get to the
> damn hospital. The anti-clotting properties of aspirin
> are not only a good prophylactic against heart attacks,
> they are good near-term treatment. "Take two aspirin
> and call me in thhe morning" with regard to a heart
> attack would be excellent heart attack advice if, for
> example, you were stuck up on a mountain and couldn't
> get to help sooner. -gn.
>
> You got it Bill!!. When a patient is having a heart
> attack and calls a
> doctor, the reponse of "take two aspirins and see me
> in the morning" is
> not practicing good medicine.
>
> If the problem is not serious-- then aspirin might help
> -- but people
> including Eichengreen , Tobin and Wyplos (see EJ 1995)
> -- are stating that
> their brand of aspirin will prevent heart attacks --
> and therefore no
> cardiac intensive care unit is needed.
> --
> Gregory P. Nowell
> Associate Professor
> Department of Political Science, Milne 100
> State University of New York
> 135 Western Ave.
> Albany, New York 12222
>
> Fax 518-442-5298