Fast Traders, in Spotlight, Battle Rules

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/business/fast-traders-under-attack-defend-work.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 8:42 AM
Subject: re Fast Traders, in Spotlight, Battle Rules
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

  John Wanamaker famously said "I know that I'm wasting half the money I spend on advertising. I just don't know which half". Likewise, it can be hard to tell if any particular dollar spent on Wall Street is fueling industry and innovation or is merely speculation.  For one group of purchases however, this distinction is clear. These are assets flipped very quickly. The cost is non-trivial; many of our societies best minds are now playing in this casino rather than inventing the technologies of our future.  The fix is not new regulation; we need to change the incentive structure. Profits on any asset held less than an hour should be taxed at no less than 95%. That rate can then ramp down to the long-term capital gains rate at about one percentage point every four days.

Barry Haskell Levine