@Tim Worstall
"Some taxes are, without a doubt. Some are not. The trick of "good" taxation is knowing the difference. The whole subject is called "tax incidence" and it's something the Robon Hood guys should have looked up before they made their proposals, not after."
That's a convenient excuse though, isn't it? Why, you could claim that *any* tax on business was a bad thing, if that were really true.
By the way, you claimed that this wasn't something that the bankers weren't afraid of, because there hasn't been squawking about it yet? Well, we'll see what happens should the EU or the US adopt this. In the meantime, a quick Google gives back:
Goldman Sachs getting caught trying to fix an online poll on the Tobin Tax:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/11/goldman-sachs-tobin-tax
The FT covered it:
http://search.ft.com/search?queryText=robin+hood+stealth+tax&ftsearchType=type_news
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/559918f4-1b6c-11df-838f-00144feab49a.html
The Tories are against it:
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright/2010/02/fairytales-like-a-robin-hood-tax-wont-help-anyone.html
The Adam Smith Institute Institute is against it:
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/tax-and-economy/the-robin-hood-tax-is-dead/
(The above written by a "Tim Worstall" - perhaps someone you know?)
The Torygraph really, really doesn't like it:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100025890/the-robin-hood-tax-would-only-help-the-sheriff-and-his-cronies/
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100025643/a-robin-hood-tax-is-a-terrible-i-mean-brilliant-idea/
Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703558004574579903734883292.html
US Chamber of Commerce:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/11/us-chamber-commerce-tobin-tax