ECONOMISTS AND FINANCIAL ANALYSTS FOR A U.S.

FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX

October 30, 2013 Dear President Obama, Secretary of the Treasury Lew, and Members of Congress, We write as economists and investment and nancial experts because we believe the time has come to establish a nancial transaction tax in the United States. The recent agreement by 11 countries in the European Union to move forward toward adoption of such a tax shows that the idea is rapidly gaining major support throughout the world. It deserves its place in a global arsenal of tools for addressing both the need for revenues and the destabilizing inuence of short-termism in the nancial markets. Indeed, operating nancial markets with a nancial transaction tax is now the norm across most of the worlds major nancial centers, including, London, Hong Kong, South Africa, India, Taiwan, and Switzerland. The fundamental purpose of nancial markets is to provide funds for productive enterprises and address risk. Yet 60 percent of trades are automated, using algorithms that can cause ash-crashes and liquidity crunches. A nancial transaction tax is an important regulatory tool that should and would have the greatest impact upon the most frequently traded assets. The nancial transaction tax will raise the costs of relentless short-term churning that distract the markets from focusing on promoting long-term productive investments. Studies and historical experience demonstrate that a nancial transaction tax set at reasonable tax rates will not discourage productive investments and economic growth even while it will promote a more stable system of nancial market trading. Nor would the tax be too costly for traders, as trading volumes will adjust to account for the modest increase in transaction costs. In particular, ordinary investors will be least affected by the tax. Its greatest impact will rather be on high-frequency traders. With debates in Washington continuing over how to pay for our most important commitments to our citizens, it is clear that we need new taxes that are both fair and that encourage productive investments in our economy. A sales tax for Wall Street trades is, in fact, a common-sense idea whose time has come, and should be included in the mix of proposals to fund the governments current and future priorities, supplying funds for programs that meet human needs. The Inclusive Prosperity Act, introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) would raise substantial revenues while taxing transactions at a level designed to reduce speculative activity that threatens to destabilize the markets. In fact, Rep. Ellisons version of the nancial transaction tax could raise hundreds of billions of dollars annually without imposing hardship on the overall economy. Rather, it will enhance the operation of nancial markets by discouraging the type of destabilizing speculation that produced the disastrous Wall Street crash of 2008-09. The nancial speculation tax is a rare political and economic win-win, and we urge you to support efforts towards its enactment. The undersigned:

Alan A. Aja Assistant Professor Brooklyn College-CUNY Randy Albelda Professor of Economics University of Massachusetts Boston Gar Alperovitz Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy University of Maryland, College Park Marcellus Andrews Professor of Economics Bucknell University Eileen Appelbaum Senior Economist Center for Economic and Policy Research Michael Ash Professor of Economics & Public Policy, Chair of Economics, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Ron Baiman Assist. Professor of Economics, Benedictine University & Chicago Political Economy Group Dean Baker Co-director, Center for Economic and Policy Research Laurence Ball Professor of Economics Johns Hopkins University Dr. William Barclay Retired Sr. VP, Chicago Stock Exchange; Adjunct Professor, UIC Liautaud Graduate School of Business - Corporate MBA Program; Chicago Political Economy Group David Barkin Distinguished Professor of Economics, Metropolitan University-Mexico City Lourdes Benera Professor Emerita Cornell University Gnseli Berik Professor, Economics Department University of Utah

Alexandra Bernasek Professor of Economics Colorado State University Richard Bilsborrow Professor, Dept of Biostatistics, Adjunct in Dept of Economics University of North Carolina Cyrus Bina Distinguished Research Professor of Economics University of Minnesota (Morris Campus) Peter Bohmer Faculty in Economics and Political Economy The Evergreen State College James Bothwell Former Chief Economist; Director, Financial Institutions & Markets Issues U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) Roger Even Bove Department of Economics & Finance (retired) West Chester University James K. Boyce Professor of Economics Dept.of Economics & Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Robin Broad Professor, International Development Program School of International Service, American University Robert Buchele Department of Economics Smith College Sarah Burke Senior Policy Analyst Friedrich Ebert Foundation Antonio Callari Sigmund M. and Mary B. Hyman Professor of Economics Franklin and Marshall College Martha Campbell Associate Professor, Economics, State University of New York at Potsdam Jim Campen Economics Faculty, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Timothy Canova Professor of Law and Public Finance, Nova Southeastern University John Chasse Professor Emeritus Economics, State University of New York at Brockport Howard Chernick Professor of Economics Hunter College, City University of New York Kimberly Christensen, PhD Sarah Lawrence College Jens Christiansen Professor of Economics Mount Holyoke College Eugene P. Coyle, PhD Berkeley, CA James Crotty Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Amherst James M. Cypher Professor of Economics Emeritus California State University Omar S. Dahi Associate Professor of Economics, Hampshire College Anita Dancs Associate Professor of Economics, Western New England University Jane DArista Research Associate Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts William Darity Jr Professor of Public Policy Duke University Susan M. Davis Dept. of Economics and Finance, Buffalo State College James G. Devine Professor of Economics Loyola Marymount University Geert Dhondt Department of Economics The City University of New York Peter Dorman Evergreen State College

Laura Dresser Associate Director, Center on Wisconsin Strategy University of Wisconsin, Madison Marie Duggan Professor of Economics Keene State College Gary Dymski Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Riverside Todd Easton Associate Professor University of Portland Scotty Embree, PhD, MPH Gerald Epstein Professor of Economics and Co-Director, Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) University of Massachusetts, Amherst Bilge Erten Postdoctoral Research Scholar Columbia University Susan Feiner Professor of Economics University of Southern Maine Rudy Fichtenbaum Professor of Economics Wright State University Sean Flaherty Professor of Economics Franklin and Marshall College Maria S. Floro Professor, Department of Economics, American University Nancy Folbre Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Steve Fraser Professor, American Studies and Editor-at-Large, New Labor Forum Columbia University John Gallup Assistant Professor & Director of Graduate Program Dept. of Economics Portland State University Barbara Garson Author Down the Up Escalator

Teresa Ghilarducci Chair of the Economics Department and Director of the Schwartz Center For Economic Policy Analysis, The New School for Social Research G. Reza Ghorashi Professor of Economics Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Deborah Goldsmith Instructor, Economics City College of San Francisco Nance Goldstein, PhD Resident Scholar Brandeis University Neva Goodwin Co-director, Global Development And Environment Institute, Tufts University Stephany Griffith-Jones Professor & Financial Markets Director, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University Robin Hahnel Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics American University, Washington DC John B. Hall Professor of Economics and International Studies Portland State University Martin Hart-Landsberg Professor of Economics Lewis and Clark College Carol Heim Professor, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Peter Hess Doe Professor of Economics Davidson College Peter Ho Associate Professor in Economics. University of Denver, Colorado Susan R. Holmberg Director of Research The Roosevelt Institute Candace Howes Professor of Economics and Chair, Connecticut College

Peter Howes Associate Professor in Economics, University of Denver, Colorado Julio Huato Associate Economics Professor, St. Francis College Sanford Jacoby Professor of Management & Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles Ethan Kaplan Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Maryland, College Park Emily Kawano Executive Director Center for Popular Economics Farida C. Khan Professor of Economics & Director, Center for International Studies University of Wisconsin-Parkside Mary C. King Professor, Economics Portland State University Tim Koechlinm Ph.D. Director, International Studies, Economics, Vassar College Andrew I. Kohen Professor Emeritus of Economics James Madison University Brent Kramer Senior Economist, Fiscal Policy Institute, New York Peter Karl Kresl Charles P. Vaughan Professor of Economics Emeritus Bucknell University David Laibman Professor Emeritus, Economics, Brooklyn College, CUNY Thomas Lambert Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy Northern Kentucky University Frederic S. Lee Professor of Economics University of MissouriKansas City

Margaret C. Levenstein Associate Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research; Adjunct Associate Professor of Business Economics Institute for Social Research and Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Henry M. Levin William Heard Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University Arthur MacEwan Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Boston Allan Macneill Associate Professor Webster University Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi Professor of Economics & Chair, Department of Economics and Finance Winston-Salem State University Jeff Madrick Senior Fellow Roosevelt Institute Mark H. Maier Professor of Economics Glendale College Stanley Malinowitz, PhD University of Massachusetts Universidad Nacional de Colombia Thomas Masterson Levy Economics Institute Bard College Peter Hans Matthews Professor of Political Economy Chair, Dept. of Economics Middlebury College Kathleen McAfee Associate Professor, International Relations, San Francisco State University Elaine McCrate Economics and Womens Studies, University of Vermont Richard McIntyre Professor of Economics University of Rhode Island

Michael Meeropol Professor and Chair Emeritus, Department of Economics Western New England University Martin Melkonian Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Economics Hofstra University John Miller Professor of Economics Wheaton College Ida A. Mirzaie Department of Economics Ohio State University Basilio Monteiro Chair, Division of Mass Communication St. Johns University Philip Moss Professor of Economics University of Massachusetts Lowell Tracy Mott Associate Professor & Department Chair, Dept. of Economics, University of Denver Michele Naples Department of Economics The College of New Jersey Julie A. Nelson Professor and Chair, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Boston Eric Nilsson Professor, Economics Department, California State University San Bernardino Laurie Nisonoff Professor of Economics Hampshire College Aaron Pacitti Assistant Professor of Economics, Siena College Spencer Pack Professor of Economics Connecticut College Thomas Palley Senior Economic Policy Adviser, AFL-CIO and Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute

Richard Parker Professor, Kennedy School of Goverment, Harvard University James A. Parrott, Ph.D. Fiscal Policy Institute Tim Payne Economics Shoreline Community College Dr. William A. Pelz Professor of History & Political Science Elgin Community College Michael Perelman Professor of Economics California State University Joseph Persky Professor of Economics University of Illinois at Chicago Karen Pfeifer Professor Emerita of Economics, Smith College Robert Pollin Professor of Economics and Co-Director, Political Economy Research Institute University of MassachusettsAmherst Paddy Quick Professor of Economics St. Francis College, Brooklyn Michael Reich Director & Professor of Economics, Institute for Research on Labor and EmploymentUC Berkeley Robert B. Reich Chancellors Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley Nola Reinhardt Professor of Economics & Director, Global South Development Studies Program, Smith College Bruce Roberts Professor of Economics University of Southern Maine John Roche Professor Emeritus St. John Fisher College

Charles P. Rock Professor of Economics Rollins College, Florida John Sarich Adjunct Associate Professor Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Helen Scharber Assistant Professor of Economics, Hampshire College Ted Schmidt Associate Professor, Department of Economics & Finance Buffalo State College John Schmitt Senior Economist Center for Economic and Policy Research Juliet Schor Department of Sociology Boston College Stephanie Seguino Professor of Economics University of Vermont Anwar Shaikh Professor of Economics New School for Social Research Nina Shapiro Professor of Economics Saint Peters University Laurence Shute Professor Emeritus of Economics, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Peter Skott Professor of Economics University of MassachusettsAmherst Bryan Snyder Senior Lecturer, Economics Bentley University Janet Spitz Associate Professor of Business, The College of Saint Rose Chace Stiehl Economics Chair Bellevue College Lynn Stout Professor of Corporate & Business Law Cornell Law School

Frank Stricker Professor of History California State University, Dominguez Hills Steve Suppan Senior Policy Analyst Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Chris Tilly Professor of Urban Planning and Sociology and Director, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment University of California, Los Angeles Renee Toback, PhD Labor Economist Walker F. Todd Legal officer and research officer, Federal Reserve Banks of NY and Cleveland Mariano Torras Professor of Economics Adelphi University Wallace C. Turbeville Senior Fellow, Demos Hendrik Van den Berg Professor of Economics, University of Nebraska Lincoln William Van Lear Professor of Economics Belmont Abbey College Eric Verhoogen Associate Professor , Department of Economics, Columbia University Valerie Voorheis Senior Lecturer, Economics University of Massachusetts at Amherst Paula Voos Professor, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations Norman Waitzman Professor, Dept of Economics University of Utah Thomas E. Weisskopf Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Michigan

Ann Willcox Seidman Boston University School of Law, retired John Willoughby Professor of Economics American University Edward Wolff Department of Economics New York University Eiman Zein-Elabdin Professor of Economics Franklin & Marshall College Robert Zevin Chairman, Zevin Asset Management,LLC.