Sir, – I am one of the “few people” who question not just the need, but also the morality of the financial sector paying a financial transaction tax (FTT).
I also strongly disagree with the details and the tone of your Editorial (October 12th).
Many areas of the financial sector have always acted responsibly for their clients and their shareholders. Those companies had no hand, act or part in the property boom and the vast overspending by governments that has caused so much harm to the world economy. The idea that the entire financial sector has to “atone for past mistakes” is a grotesque misunderstanding of the facts. A financial transaction tax that makes no distinction between the sectors of the financial industry that acted responsibly and those few that acted irresponsibly, such as Irish retail banks, is plainly immoral.
Taxes should not be forced on any person or industry as a crude type of retribution for misdiagnosed problems. – Yours, etc,