Re-Define produces solutions to current and long-term public challenges and helps policy makers implement them
Burden Sharing
Re-Define Testimony at European Parliament Hearings on Financial Transaction Taxes
Please click below to see an archived webcast of the European Parliament Testimony of Re-Define Managing Director Sony Kapoor on Financial Transaction Taxes. This hearing was conducted by the full ECON committee on the 2nd of December 2009.
Sony Kapoor European Parliament Testimony on Financial Transaction Taxes
For the speech please look at time stamp 16:20:10 to 16:27:20 and for answers to MEP questions please look at time stamp 17:01:20 to 17:09:00.
A copy of the submitted written Testimony of Mr Kapoor will be available both here and on the European Parliament website on Monday the 7th of December.
Other details of the hearing can be accessed here.
Revisiting the Tobin Tax - Financial Transaction Taxes for Burden Sharing and as Regulatory Tools
Tobin taxes are back in circulation again. The financial crisis has highlighted the fundamental problems of financial stability as well as the costs associated with bailouts of the financial sector.
Interestingly the family of tobin taxes, better known as financial transaction taxes ot security transaction taxes are good tools which can help tackle both of these problems. Their potential and role in helping provide solutions to the challenges confronting us are discussed briefly in this policy note here. This note which was written a while back will be followed by a Re-Define Policy Paper out next week.
Exponentially expanded financial markets
It is widely known that turnover in financial markets (the total value of financial instruments traded every year) has grown exponentially. This has been the case for almost all financial markets both on-exchange such as stock markets and off-exchange such as OTC derivate markets.
Currency market turnover for example rose from about $4 trillion in the 70s to $40 trillion in the 80s to more than $500 trillion now. Turnover in equity markets registered a seven fold increase between 1993 and 2005 to about $51 trillion and the wealth held in the global bond market is more than $60 trillion now with turnover substantially higher. The notional value of OTC credit default swaps, just a single kind of derivate, rose to more than $60 trillion from almost nothing a decade ago.
