poor Barney still sad about  BoM. They really do change temperatures for "statistical" reasons.

freediver wrote on Apr 30^th, 2022 at 8:38am:

So obvious you have struggled all week to come up with a way to avoid it 

Perhaps the major issue for an effective Financial Transaction Tax to overcome, would be Vertical Integration.

The ability of businesses especially large wealthy corps to buy up and vertically integrate to the nth degree - from the production of raw materials, to refining, to manufacture, to distribution and onto retail sales etc, would have the effect of sheltering them from vast tax liabilities. Many businesses without this ability would then suffer from a crippling lack of competitiveness.       

Agnes. wrote on Apr 30^th, 2022 at 10:03pm:


Sounds like steam escaping....

Agnes. wrote on Apr 30^th, 2022 at 10:03pm:


WTF? stay off the drugs

by the way, if you want to call someone an idiot, it's best you don't make an idiot of yourself in the process.

it's spelt  IDIOT,  ya idiot

John Smith wrote on May 1^st, 2022 at 10:48am:


Sure, but can you imagine the resources and expertise that large corps would throw towards creative integration and accounting practices and how that would effect the viability of smaller less integrated outfits. Without strong and most likely very complex legislation, large monopolies would steamroll the competition.

I wish it could work, I really do, however I don't have much faith in legislators being up to the task.

Undoubtedly and no matter what, we need significant campaign financing and media ownership reform, else the powerful will continue to be warp legislative processes in their favor .    

John Smith wrote on May 1^st, 2022 at 1:46pm:


Yes, I agree that corporations often have very unfair advantages over smaller outfits, under our current system. And there's no denying, that they would have to pay transaction tax on wages and salaries etc.

However being one big company, they could avoid transactions that often occur in a step by step fashion between various companies or other separate entities. Such as sale of goods, materials or services. As an example, those that occur from farmer to distributor, to miller to distributor, to manufacturer to distributor and onto retail sales.

Separate entities trying to survive outside of this vertical integration would be impacted with taxation costs added upon every necessary step involved in the process. The greater the number of preceding steps the less competitive an entity would become. Corporations would no doubt take more and more steps in house and strangle the competition.