The Robin Hood Tax is a proposed new tax on financial transactions, which could generate the funds to pay for the social costs of the economic crisis, fight global poverty, and fund global public goods such as health care and to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

This new tax, while as low as 0.05% of financial transactions, would contribute to greater stability of the financial system by reducing speculation and excessive liquidity.

The financial sector has caused the current historic crisis. The exponential growth of the financial sector with a focus on short-term speculative gain has created a ‘casino economy’. With the bursting of the most recent bubble, millions of women and men have lost their jobs.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been mobilized internationally to save the banks and the financial system. At the same time, neither the social nor the climate emergency is being addressed with the political urgency it deserves and with the necessary financial resources to back it.

Financial services corporations benefited for decades from the absence of meaningful regulation and are largely responsible for the crisis. It is time for them to pay their fair share of the costs of recovery. A Financial Transactions Tax would be the most effective instrument to secure this.

The establishment of the Robin Hood Tax is a real way the G8 & G20 Summits could make a long-lasting positive difference to the economy.

For more information about the Robin Hood Tax, please visit

http://www.makefinancework.org/

OPSEU to support Robin Hood Tax at G20 rally

June 22, 2010 OPSEU will be handing out free Robin Hood Tax t-shirts to hundreds of OPSEU members at the G20 rally. Be sure to come early to the OPSEU station at the north-east of Queen’s Park to get your t-shirt. Show your support for this important proposal to impose a small tax on financial transactions which would bring in billions of dollars for much need funding for the public good.