Schröder on Tobin Tax
At Davos, Gerhard Schroeder spoke in favour of CTT. German finance
minister has repeated his negative stand.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the German chancellor, Schröder, showed himself open to draw on speculative flows for financing the MDGs. The relevant sentence in his speech reads as follows: "If we would succeed in drawing upon those financial flows behind which there are as good as no real economic processes and if the community of states could agree on that, this would be a possibility to get such a financing. If it becomes clear in the forefield, that we do not succeed, other ways have to be gone."
In Germany, Schroeder's statement has been interepreted as support for the implementation of a Currency Transaction Tax (CTT). The Greens, which are currently participating in the German government, have already announced that they advocate the Tobin Tax and an international kerosine tax.
Nevertheless, a sober analysis of Schröders speech shows, that there is also very much a diplomatic maneouvre: on the one hand, the French president Chirac had once again spoken out in favour of the CTT. In the light of the special relations between France and Germany, Schröder had to react on that. He could not bluntly say NO. On the other hand, he makes clear, that he is very much in favour of the British IFF proposal. The sentence "If it becomes clear in the forefield, that we do not succeed, other ways have to be gone." shows, that he is not really ready to go for the CTT, as he knows very well, that the US are strictly against any international taxation.
In the meantime, the German finance minister, Hans Eichel, has declared officially, that German is in favour of a pilot phase for the IFF and of a kerosine tax. Eichel has explicitly spoken out again against the CTT.
via Peter Wahl / WEED
A press-release on Schröder's speech at Davos is found at the site of the German Bundesregierung
Last modified
2005-02-04 11:49 AM
