Foreign trade in goods and services is bound to suffer as well. In the end, the wealth-enhancing international division of labour will be hampered. Furthermore, in times of distress, a Tobin tax is not effective. Expected returns on speculative capital movements during a crisis by far outweigh the costs of any sensible transaction tax.
The Tobin tax simply cannot make up for a loss of confidence. On a worldwide scale, financial links are gaining in importance. Internationally, business cycles are growing closer. That is why Europe was relatively quickly affected by the US downturn, although our starting point was quite different from theirs. Although growth in Europe was vigorous, too, overheating was not an issue with us.