That’s not me. That US Congressman Pete Stark writing in the FT saying:

Before I came to the US Congress, I was a banker — a bank I started grew into a billion-dollar business. I know the power and importance of banks to local, national and global economies. Yet I also know that transformations in the financial sector have moved too much of the activity out of socially productive investments and into speculative, short-term bets on markets.

The idea of a financial speculation tax is getting consideration in many corners of the world, and not a moment too soon. When the UN Summit kicks off next week, an international financial speculation tax to fund the Millennium Development Goals should be at the top of the agenda. Tapping into some of the enormous wealth that international currency traders create for themselves to pay for pressing international needs is the right thing to do.

Let’s do it.