The buffoons who are our elected politicians are calling again
for a financial transactions tax. The only problem with having
such an FTT being that it's an extremely bad idea [3].  In a
report that calls for the Government to implement the Kay
recommendations, MPs have called for the Government to consider
imposing an FTT to help reduce high frequency trading. Professor
Kay, whose report into short-termism in equity markets was
published last year, did not contain any mention of the FTT. But
Adrian Bailey, chairman of the Committee, said he had found
support for the tax during evidence sessions. “The Government
should assess the likely impact of the introduction of a
Financial Transaction Tax and how the obstacles to its
implementation can be overcome,” he said.  There's no particular
problem with implementing an FTT. It's just that it's a very
silly thing indeed to try and do. As the House of Lords
Committee which looked at the same subject pointed out [4]:  A 
European tax on financial transactions could c