A Modern-Day Robin Hood Takes Aim at Poverty

October 24, 2013
By Lauren Frohne

Still image from “Robin Hood Goes to Wall Street.” What if you knew you could spend a miniscule amount of money—one-half of one percent of your earnings, say—and it would do really good things? “This isn’t theory. This is happening,” says David Hillman of the Robin Hood Tax Campaign.

What if you knew you could spend a miniscule amount of money—one-half of one percent of your earnings, say—and it would do really good things? Things like making sure women don’t die in childbirth, lowering rates of infant mortality, tuberculosis, and HIV?

Wouldn’t you do it?

“This isn’t theory. This is happening,” says David Hillman of the Robin Hood Tax Campaign.

Eleven countries, including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain are moving forward with a “microtax” on transactions by banks and the rest of the financial sector. It’s estimated to raise billions for global public goods such as health care.

The financial sector has long been under-taxed while at the same time causing massive financial crises. The Robin Hood Campaign and affiliated organizations such as Stamp Out Poverty are helping ensure not just that banks pay their fair share, but that in so doing they help alleviate the damage caused by the global crisis and recession.

Watch more of our conversation with David Hillman above.

Stamp Out Poverty and the Robin Hood Tax Campaign are Open Society grantees. At Open Society is a video series highlighting the people and ideas that are inspiring our work—and changing the world.

Lauren Frohne

Until September 2014, Lauren Frohne was a multimedia producer for the Open Society Foundations.

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