Re: [ox-en] word social forum/stallman/patents
- From: Russell McOrmond <russell flora.ca>
- Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 08:13:14 -0500 (EST)
On Thu, 7 Feb 2002, Benni Baermann wrote:
Hm. One of the mean point of Attac, which is an organisation with much
influence in WSF, ist th "Tobin-Tax" (an special tax on international
financial trade), which tries to implement an scarcity in information.
Or i am missing something?
Yes, you missed something ;-)
By using the word "trade" rather than "speculate" or "gamble", you have
missed the essence of what the Tobin-Tax is trying to accomplish.
There are many of us that would like to separate "trade and investment"
from "speculation and gambling". Trade and investment would be treated as
economic issues with attempts to protect free(fair) market principles.
Speculation and gambling, and their leading to addictions, would be
treated as a health and social problem.
As an example, the old MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment) was an
example of an agreement intended to reduce the responsibility of
speculators, not increase investment that would lead to enhancement of the
economy. Once seen from the context of these mixed issues, many
multinational treaties make much more sense (as do those who oppose them).
---
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
See http://weblog.flora.org/ for announcements, activities, and opinions
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise,
we don't believe in it at all." -- Noam Chomsky
_______________________
http://www.oekonux.org/