A Spahn tax is a type of
currency transaction tax
A currency transaction tax is a tax placed on the use of currency for various types of transactions. The tax is associated with the financial sector and is a type of financial transaction tax, as opposed to a consumption tax paid by consumers ...
that is meant to be used for the purpose of controlling exchange-rate volatility. This idea was proposed by
Paul Bernd Spahn
Paul Bernd Spahn (born October 17, 1939) is emeritus professor of public finance at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
He was born in Darmstadt, Germany.
Spahn studied economics at the universities of Frankfurt, Paris (Sorbonne) ...
in 1995.
Early history
The initial idea for a
currency transaction tax
A currency transaction tax is a tax placed on the use of currency for various types of transactions. The tax is associated with the financial sector and is a type of financial transaction tax, as opposed to a consumption tax paid by consumers ...
is attributed to
James Tobin
James Tobin (March 5, 1918 – March 11, 2002) was an American economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and consulted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Harvard and Yale Universities. He ...
in 1972, a concept now known as a
Tobin tax
A Tobin tax was originally defined as a tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another. It was suggested by James Tobin, an economist who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Tobin's tax was originally intended to pen ...
. On June 16, 1995. Spahn, in his analysis of the original idea, concluded that the concept was not viable and suggested an alternative solution to the problem of managing exchange-rate volatility.
Concept
According to Spahn, "Analysis has shown that the Tobin tax as originally proposed is not viable and should be laid aside for good." Furthermore, he believes that "it is virtually impossible to distinguish between normal liquidity trading and speculative 'noise' trading. If the tax is generally applied at high rates, it will severely impair financial operations and create international liquidity problems, especially if derivatives are taxed as well. A lower tax rate would reduce the negative impact on financial markets, but not mitigate speculation where expectations of an exchange rate change exceed the tax margin."
In 1995, Spahn suggested an alternative, involving "a two-tier rate structure consisting of a low-rate financial transactions tax, plus an exchange surcharge at prohibitive rates as a piggyback. The latter would be dormant in times of normal financial activities, and be activated only in the case of speculative attacks. The mechanism allowing the identification of abnormal trading in world financial markets would make reference to a 'crawling peg' with an appropriate exchange rate band. The exchange rate would move freely within this band without transactions being taxed. Only transactions effected at exchange rates outside the permissible range would become subject to tax. This would automatically induce stabilizing behavior on the part of market participants."
Proposals
On June 15, 2004, the
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
Parliament approved a bill implementing a Spahn tax.
According to the legislation,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
will introduce the Spahn tax once all countries of the
eurozone
The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU pol ...
introduce a similar law.
[ ECB (2004)]
Opinion of the European Central Bank (CON/2004/34)
/ref>
In November 2004, Belgium submitted this law for an opinion to the European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centra ...
, which provided both an economic and legal assessment. Its summary stated:
"...the ECB concludes that the economic and monetary usefulness of a tax, such as envisaged by the draft law, is highly questionable, given the uncertainty of its claimed benefits and the likely welfare costs arising from distortions in the working of financial markets. This assessment is reinforced by the difficulties expected with respect to its implementation."
It continued:
"...the ECB is of the opinion that the introduction by a euro area Member State of a tax, such as envisaged by the draft law, is incompatible with the Treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal per ...
."
See also
* Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks".
The BIS carries out its work th ...
* Central banks - which issue currency
* Credit crunch
A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...
* Currencies
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
* Currency crisis
A currency crisis is a type of financial crisis, and is often associated with a real economic crisis. A currency crisis raises the probability of a banking crisis or a default crisis. During a currency crisis the value of foreign denominated deb ...
* Currency transaction tax
A currency transaction tax is a tax placed on the use of currency for various types of transactions. The tax is associated with the financial sector and is a type of financial transaction tax, as opposed to a consumption tax paid by consumers ...
* Exorbitant privilege
The term exorbitant privilege (''privilège exorbitant'' in French) refers to the benefits the United States has due to its own currency (the US dollar) being the international reserve currency. For example, the US would not face a balance of pa ...
* Financial markets
A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial ma ...
* Financial transaction tax
A financial transaction tax (FTT) is a levy on a specific type of financial transaction for a particular purpose. The tax has been most commonly associated with the financial sector for transactions involving intangible property rather than re ...
* Fluctuation in exchange rates
* Foreign exchange controls
* Foreign exchange derivative
A foreign exchange derivative is a financial derivative whose payoff depends on the foreign exchange rates of two (or more) currencies. These instruments are commonly used for currency speculation and arbitrage or for hedging foreign exchange ri ...
* Foreign exchange market
The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all as ...
* Liquidity crisis In financial economics, a liquidity crisis is an acute shortage of ''liquidity''. Liquidity may refer to market liquidity (the ease with which an asset can be converted into a liquid medium, e.g. cash), funding liquidity (the ease with which borrow ...
* Money market
The money market is a component of the economy that provides short-term funds. The money market deals in short-term loans, generally for a period of a year or less.
As short-term securities became a commodity, the money market became a compon ...
* Noise (economic)
Economic noise, or simply noise, describes a theory of pricing developed by Fischer Black. Black describes noise as the opposite of information: hype, inaccurate ideas, and inaccurate data. His theory states that noise is everywhere in the economy ...
* Paul Bernd Spahn
Paul Bernd Spahn (born October 17, 1939) is emeritus professor of public finance at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
He was born in Darmstadt, Germany.
Spahn studied economics at the universities of Frankfurt, Paris (Sorbonne) ...
* Speculation
In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.)
Many ...
* Speculative attack In economics, a speculative attack is a precipitous selling of untrustworthy assets by previously inactive speculators and the corresponding acquisition of some valuable assets ( currencies, gold). The first model of a speculative attack was contai ...
* Speculation in foreign exchange markets
* Spot market
The spot market or cash market is a public financial market in which financial instruments or commodities are traded for immediate delivery. It contrasts with a futures market, in which delivery is due at a later date. In a spot market, settle ...
* Sudden stop (economics)
''Sudden Stop'' is the second studio album by Canadian blues musician Colin James released in 1990 on Virgin Records. The album was recorded in Vancouver and Memphis, Tennessee.
The album features guest appearances by Bonnie Raitt, The Mem ...
* Tobin tax
A Tobin tax was originally defined as a tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another. It was suggested by James Tobin, an economist who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Tobin's tax was originally intended to pen ...
* Transfer tax
* Volatility (finance)
In finance, volatility (usually denoted by ''σ'') is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time, usually measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns.
Historic volatility measures a time series of past market pric ...
* Volatility risk
* Consequences of currency volatility
Related economic crises
* 1994 economic crisis in Mexico
The Mexican peso crisis was a currency crisis sparked by the Mexican government's sudden devaluation of the peso against the U.S. dollar in December 1994, which became one of the first international financial crises ignited by capital flight ...
* 1997 Asian Financial Crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...
* 1998 Russian financial crisis
The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt. The crisis had ...
* Argentine economic crisis (1999–2002)
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
* Financial crisis of 2007–2010
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
References
External links
Currency Transaction Taxes - Library of links to legislation, proposals, reports, articles and archives - from Global Policy Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spahn Tax
Foreign exchange market
Financial transaction tax
International taxation