Europe Weekly: Tobin or not Tobin

13/01 19:04 CET

europe weekly

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This week our current affairs round-up concerning all things Europe takes a look at the Tobin tax.

The man it is named after, economist James Tobin, said it looked like Nessie. Yes, that’s right, the mythical monster from Scotland. One of his students remembers him saying, ‘‘You see it, then it disappears, and after a while it suddenly reappears like the monster in the Scottish Loch.’‘

That student was Mario Monti, now prime minister of the eurozone’s third biggest economy, Italy.

Along with the push for a tax on financial transactions, this week also saw Europe’s leaders continue their drive for a new fiscal pact between 26 EU countries before the end of March.

It is hoped non-euro member Denmark, which formally celebrated the beginning of its EU presidency this week, will be able help draft this.

All that and more in this week’s Europe Weekly. For the full programme, click on the link above.

More about: European economy, Financial regulation, Taxes

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