As the year winds down ..

I'll be spending a significant portion of the winter break writing a short article (based on my talk at the Amsterdam conference earlier this month) called "The Financial Transactions Tax Versus the Financial Activities Tax." I conclude, however, that the article's title states a false opposition, since a financial activities tax (FAT) should be passed in any event, whereas a financial transactions tax (FTT) might or might not be desirable on balance - whether or not there is an FAT - based on issues entirely distinct from the overall treatment of financial sector firms and the risk of another 2008.