Cont-Bouchaud percolation model including Tobin tax

The Tobin tax is an often discussed method to tame speculation and get a source of income. The discussion is especially heated when the financial markets are in crisis. In this article we refer to foreign exchange markets. The Tobin tax should be a small international tax affecting all currency transactions and thus consequently reducing the destabilizing speculations. In this way this tax should take over a control function. By including Tobin tax in the microscopic model of Cont and Bouchaud one finds that Tobin tax could be the right method to control foreign exchange operations and get a good source of incomeComment: Expanded for of paper to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys. C 13 (2002

Remembering James Tobin: Stories Mostly from His Students

James Tobin was renowned as an economist of great distinction. Moreover, his students and colleagues witnessed dimensions of his personality and behavior often unknown to others. Up close, Tobin was a memorable figure who made lasting impressions on those he taught and influenced. This article describes Tobin close up, in the words of his students who became professional economists. Rather than focusing on his research, these stories instead present Tobin the teacher, both inside and out of the classroom, Tobin the person, and Tobin the friend and mentor, painting a picture of a remarkable personality. Exchange rates fluctuate very rapidly, in comparison to the prices of goods and labor. An internationally uniform tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another would reduce these fluctuations. Foreign exchange markets focus strongly on the short run, but this tax would reduce these fluctuations by increasing the cost of such transactions. It throws some sand in the wheels of short-term speculation while increasing the relative advantage of longer-term international investment flows.

The necessary condition for stability in Tobin's Walras-Keynes-Phillips model: A note

In a 1975 paper entitled 'Keynesian Models of Recession and Depression' James Tobin sought to formalize in a dynamic model Keynes' argument that unemployment could persist in an economy with flexible wages and prices. In the course of his analysis Tobin presented, without proof, a 'critical necessary condition for stability' of the full employment equilibrium which is violated when expenditure is sufficiently responsive to the expected inflation rate. This note contends that later attempts in the literature to prove that Tobin's condition is necessary for stability have been unsuccessful and provides a valid proof of the same result. The note also demonstrates the existence of a sufficient condition for instability of equilibrium which is weaker than the negation of Tobin's condition.Keynes, Tobin-Mundell effect, stability of equilibrium

The Tobin tax

Taxation ; Foreign exchange

Blood Donation: It’s Just the Ticket

Assistant Manager of Transportation and Parking Kate Tobin on the benefits of blood donation, and why every pint counts

Set identification with Tobin regressors

We give semiparametric identification and estimation results for econometric models with a regressor that is endogenous, bound censored and selected,called a Tobin regressor. First, we show that true parameter value is set identified and characterize the identification sets. Second, we propose novel estimation and inference methods for this true value. These estimation and inference methods are of independent interest and apply to any problem where the true parameter value is point identified conditional on some nuisance parameter values that are set-identified. By fixing the nuisance parameter value in some suitable region, we can proceed with regular point and interval estimation. Then, we take the union over nuisance parameter values of the point and interval estimates to form the final set estimates and confidence set estimates. The initial point or interval estimates can be frequentist or Bayesian. The final set estimates are set-consistent for the true parameter value, and confidence set estimates have frequentist validity in the sense of covering this value with at least a prespecified probability in large samples. We apply our identification, estimation, and inference procedures to study the effects of changes in housing wealth on household consumption. Our set estimates fall in plausible ranges, significantly above low OLS estimates and below high IV estimates that do not account for the Tobin regressor structure.

Money and Finance in the Macro-Economic Process

Prize Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 8, 1981Macro-finance

The Tobin Tax A Review of the Evidence

The debate about the Tobin Tax, and other financial transaction taxes (FTT), gives rise to strong views both for and against. Unfortunately, little of this debate is based on the now considerable body of evidence about the impact of such taxes. This review attempts to synthesise what we know from the available theoretical and empirical literature about the impact of FTTs on volatility in financial markets. We also review the literature on how a Tobin Tax might be implemented, the amount of revenue that it might realistically produce, and the likely incidence of the tax. We conclude that, contrary to what is often assumed, a Tobin Tax is feasible and, if appropriately designed, could make a significant contribution to revenue without causing major distortions. However, it would be unlikely to reduce market volatility and could even increase it.Tobin tax, financial transaction taxes, volatility, revenue, incidence, feasibility

International capital flows and transmission of financial crises

This paper proposes a model encompassing alternative views of contagion by highlighting the different channels of transmission of financial crises in an unifying framework. We study investor behaviour when they are affected by external habit formation. It is shown how international portfolio choice in frictionless financial markets with habit formation is in itself a channel of contagion. The possible stabilization effects of capital controls and Tobin tax on the international transmission of financial crises are also discussedCurrency crises; contagion; habit formation; portfolio rebalancing; capital controls; Tobin tax