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Tuesday 4 October 2011

More morons from Brussels

So the EU wants to implement a Tobin tax on banks.

Algirdas Semeta, EU commissioner for taxation, customs, anti-fraud and audit, says: "Our project is sound and workable. I have no doubt this tax can deliver what EU citizens expect - a fair contribution from the financial sector." The unelected EU executive also points out that financial services are "in the majority of cases exempt from paying VAT (due to difficulties in measuring the taxable base)"

The EU forgets that the "contribution" from the financial sector was to take massive losses, costing shareholders but also losing a lot of jobs and bonuses in the process.  Many banks had equity injections from governments, but the governments got shares, and in many cases control of the banks.

The one entity that didn't actually put up any cash or take any losses was the European Union, but which now thinks it is due an extra £50 billion a year for doing absolutely nothing.  But then it has done that ever since its formation.

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