The Need for Taxation..?

In an Op-Ed article on the New York Times website by Phillipe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister from 2005-2007, he really brings to light an issue i truly believe Americans have forgotten. While the G20 is currently meeting to discuss multiple problems the world is facing right now, the vast amount of countries effected by this economic downturn who are not the powerhouses wait on word that they soon might recieve the aid promised before these problems occurred. And as Douste-Blazy puts so simply, the solution is quite easy.

"The one untapped source that could easily provide the amount of money needed is the foreign currency market, which handles almost $800 trillion in trades annually, all of which is untaxed. A tiny levy of 0.005 percent on transactions involving the world’s most traded currencies — the dollar, the euro, the pound and the yen — would raise more than $33 billion annually for development, while not hurting the market or affecting the average international traveler."

Just a small tax of 0.005 percent could raise the money to fight poverty, AIDS, famine, and other diseases ravaging the developing world. Hopefully the G20 realizes the necessity of helping these countries out, otherwise the world as we know it may not return to its former glory.