Economists Demand 'Robin Hood' Tax on Speculators

Hundreds of the world's leading economists want banks to pay for the mess they've made—with an international "Robin Hood tax" that would raise funds to fight climate change and global poverty. Some 350 economists from 35 countries, including two Nobel prizewinners, have written to G20 leaders urging them to enact a tax on foreign currency speculation, the Independent reports.

"This money is urgently needed," the economists wrote. "The crises of poverty and of climate change require an historic transfer of billions of dollars from the rich world to the poor world, and this tax would offer a clear way to help fund this." The economists said the financial crisis shows that the Robin Hood tax is an idea whose time has come. "The link between the financial sector and society has been broken. It is time to fix this link and for the financial sector to give something back to society." (More Robin Hood stories.)