Five Years After Start Of Financial Crisis, Wall Street Continues To HumJeff Furman, chair of the board of Ben & Jerry’s and author of the afterword to Ice Cream Social, has published an article in Fortune magazine arguing for a financial transaction tax.  His essay celebrates the movement to raise the minumum wage, but warns that the economic security of hourly workers was devastated by the financial crisis that started seven years ago. A hike in wages doesn’t address the continuing risk of another meltdown, he says.

Furman argues that a tax on financial transactions would discourage speculative short-term trading while raising billions that could be used to address problems in education, health care, and other human needs.  He points to a 0.1% transaction tax now being implemented by the European Union and cites studies showing that transaction taxes do not dampen overall business activity.  Read the piece here.