1. Introduction
2.Tobins original proposal in an intellectual and political context
2.1 The argument
2.2 Strong opposition by central banks and economists
3. Growing support for Tobins proposal in the 1990's
3.1 The endless sream of financial crises with painful real economy consequences
3.2 The 1990's revival of the Tobin tax
4. Problems of establishing and implementing the currency transactions tax
4.1 The problem of tax evasion: financial and locational substitutes
4.1.1 A low global tax
4.1.2 A high global tax
4.1.3 A low, non-universal tax
4.1.4 A high, non- universal tax
4.2 Is the Tobin tax efficient?
4.3 Lack of political will: the US, the UK and the Washington consensus as the problem
4.4 The emergence of political will: Europe or the hard-hits ?
4.4.1 Will the euro- EU take the lead?
4.4.2 Could the progressivists and the hard-hits initiate the first phase?
4.4.3 First steps to be taken
4.5 Conclusion
5 Global political issues of the Tobin tax
5.1 Sovereign states and global taxation
5.2 The role of the international monetary fund
5.3 The Tobin tax organisation
5.4 Towards the second phase: Economic security council or ECOSOC as the parent organisation?
5.4.1 The economic security council of the UN
5.4.2 The Economic and social council (ECPSPC)
5.4.3 The TTO as the Focal point of the UN system?
6. Conclusion : Realism Re-Assessed
7. Academic references
8. other refernces