Adam Smith Institute: Focus on preventing credit bubbles

Tom Clougherty, executive director of the free-market thinktank the Adam Smith Institute, comments on the banks tax:

“The proposed bank levies may be a popular way for the government to raise revenue, but they won’t do anything for the stability of the financial sector.

“The banking industry needs reform, but policy should focus on preventing credit bubbles from building up, and on increasing competition so that no institution is ‘too-big-to-fail’.

“New taxes are an irrelevant distraction from these more pressing issues.”