This week, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute floated the idea of a national transaction tax that would raise $100 billion to $150 billion a year. The tax, at a rate of 0.1% to 0.25% of the value of the trade, would be levied on all financial transactions such as stock trades, but not on consumer transactions such as with credit cards.

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Tax On Financial Transactions

Companies are borrowing but not spending

• Companies are borrowing but not spending
  Many companies worldwide are issuing bonds to raise capital, but they are not spending that money. Most of the $2.3 trillion raised with corporate bonds this year is going toward repairing finances, or the companies are hoarding the cash, according to Dealogic. This is bad news for the economy, which needs investment to support recovery. A large part of the cash is going into mergers and acquisitions, but that does not help the economy much, analysts said. The Wall Street Journal/Real Time Economics blog (13 Oct.)