A bank tax would be immoral
All the major parties are considering a bank tax of some form, though labour would only do so if there was an international consensus, but I think that such a tax would be immoral and against the basic principles that enable a free market capitalist economy to work. Here is why:
Firstly, free markets result in maximising utility, ie get the most out of the limited resources that are available, by using comparative advantage similar to that between countries in free trade. This means that everyone does what enables them to contribute most to society because this is aligned with what people are willing to pay them to do it. Ie) you empoly a plumber because the benefits to you of them fixing your pipes is greater than the costs to them of doing it and hence you are willing to pay him more than be would require to do it. However, if you introduce a tax on any particular industry you disrupt this balance created by the free market because although total utility may be maximised if banks operate as banks the tax would take away some of the incentive enabling them to earn more doing something that is less beneficial to the people paying them to do it, interfering with the balance of a free market.
Secondly is the much more important issue that you must consider in a democracy. Whilst in general a democracy is good since it means what is done by the government is what the majority of people want this only works with general policies. General taxes can be considered fair because they apply to everybody so people are voting for the taxes upon themselves as they recognise the services that they are able to provide as more valuable than the money they have to pay. However, if a majority votes a tax on a minority this is unfair because the people voting for the tax don’t have to face any of its consequences. It is no different to a white majority voting for discrimination against a black minority. People must all remember that everyone falls into some minority so if this is an acceptable way to vote their will eventually come a time when the majority is voting gain from costs that are felt by you but not them.
