Time for the Rooney tax

I've been a keen public supporter of the so-called Robin Hood Tax (a micro-levy on global financial transactions to invest in development and poverty reduction), but Aditya Chakrabortty, the economics leader writer for the Guardian, has come up with another good idea. The Wayne Rooney tax on over-valued, uneconomic footballing assets.

Ol' Money Bags

Writes Aditya: "Pug-faced footballers interest me about as much as conveyancing solicitors, who have had far more impact on my life. There was even a brief period at school when I thought this Man U everyone else was talking about was actually a Burmese military dictator....

"What interests me is how a striker who has only scored one goal this season, who had a terrible World Cup, who is in what's widely described as the worst form of his career, can command a weekly wage reportedly between £200,000 and £250,000. And for that, economists have some answers. Even better, whether left or right, Chicago or Cornell, their arguments yield some common suggestions for what can be done about it. Best of all, in these austere times, those suggestions involve imposing higher taxes on the people who earn such huge amounts. We can even call it a Rooney tax, and demand that George Osborne introduces one in his next Budget." Read the rest here.
------------