Taxing financial activities: even though this idea has been popular for quite a while now, it has also been considered to be iconoclastic. It was rejected by most experts who considered that it would be impossible to make such an idea work. They feared that if such a tax was set up, it would increase transaction costs and thereby reduce liquidity while accentuate market volatility. The 2007-2010 crisis has resolutely changed the mind-set. Whilst obstacles certainly remain huge and such plans are considered controversial, the debate is clearly ongoing. In this Letter we examine how well grounded a tax on financial activities would be. It is not merely a question of punishing bankers, or financial markets, or even of truly reducing asset price volatility. It would be better to use some regulatory instruments to do that. The main objective of the tax should be to raise funds. Some people think that funds raised by the tax should be used to finance activities considered to be "socially useful". However, it is highly unlikely that this solution would be chosen. Most of the existing taxes aim at replenishing resolution funds which can be drawn from in times of crises, while the more ambitious plans are aimed at feeding state budgets.

 Keywords : Financial activities tax | Financial Regulation | Financial crisis

 JEL : E44

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