Inside Story

Channelling Robin Hood?

Supporters of the Robin Hood tax are urging world leaders to force banks to clear up the mess they helped to create.

Supporters of the Robin Hood tax are calling on world leaders gathered in South Korea for the G20 summit to listen to their people rather than to the banks.

They argue that banks that were bailed out over the past two years are now back to business as usual but that a global Robin Hood tax would mean the world’s banks pay to reduce the deficits they helped to cause, removing the need for austerity measures.

But will world leaders heed these calls and is the Robin Hood tax a feasible idea?

Inside Story, with presenter Dareen Abughaida, discusses with guests: Max Lawson, a senior policy adviser at Oxfam and a spokesperson for the Robin Hood Tax Campaign; Simon Hills, an executive director at the British Bankers Association; and Aly Khan Satchu, a financial analyst and CEO of Rich Investments.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Thursday, November 11, 2010.