Bankers support a global tax on banking? Next you’ll be saying turkeys are voting for Christmas. But that was the headline on January 30 – and no wonder.
Of course Deutsche Bank’s Josef Ackermann and Barclays Capital’s Bob Diamond are thrilled at the idea of a global levy on banking to finance a rescue fund to bail out failing institutions.
What could be more painless than a modest tax on a whole industry, whose customers have nowhere else to go?
Since a global levy would apply to all players, it would not hurt any bank’s competitive position. If it made shareholders less willing to hold bank equity, the cost could simply be passed on...