Mr Bernard Kouchner, you better beguine by taking away the tax on the world’s poor.

Sir I do not believe that the markets´ capability to arbitrage away disequilibrium would be seriously compromised by a minuscule tax on financial transactions and so I do not oppose it, in fact I support it as “a time for a second thought tax” helpful for everyone. And of course I do not reject the idea of “A tax on finance to help the world´s poor” as argued by Bernard Kouchner, September 17.

That said let me be absolutely clear that the world´s poor, and most of the rest of the world, would benefit much more from taking away that financial tax that the current capital regulations for banks represent in that, above from what the market already charges for risk differentials, it creates arbitrary costs, far from minuscule, that directly taxes those more prone to be considered as more risky, like the poor and the development countries.

And so, Mr Bernard Kouchner, I would much prefer you forget your well-intentioned tax and instead eliminate your non-intentional tax.