A quite recent political movement is ATTAC (Association pour une Taxation des Transactions financières pour l’Aide aux Citoyens), the international anti-globalization movement, founded first in France in 1998, but now active in about 30 countries. The "%" sign probably allude to the demand for the so-called Tobin Tax, a global tax on financial transactions, which is a central part of the ATTAC programs. Marcus Schmöger, 13 June 2002
I wanted to add a little background information to compliment the already existing entry on FOTW regarding the ATTAC movement.
A Tobin tax is the suggested tax on all trade of currency across borders. Named for the economist James Tobin, the tax is intended to put a penalty on short-term speculation in currencies. The proposed tax rate would be low, between 0.1% to 0.25%.
The idea lay dormant for more than 20 years. In 1997 Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique, renewed the debate around the Tobin tax with an editorial titled "Disarming the markets." Ramonet proposed to create an association for the introduction of this tax, which was named ATTAC (Association for the Taxation of financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens). The tax has then become an issue of the antiglobalization movement and a matter of discussion not only behind academic institutions but even in the streets and in parliaments around the world, such as the UK and France.
Thus the International ATTAC Movement was created at an international meeting in Paris, on December 11-12, 1998. Esteban Rivera, 26 November 2006
