The Euro fell for a fifth week against the dollar this week; its longest losing streak for nearly two years. It also fell against Sterling, the Australian Dollar and the Yen, where it is at its lowest level for eleven years. What happens next depends on the European Central Bank meeting on the 12th January.
As a result, the first European "leader" to blink is Nicolas Sarkozy, who has expressed his displeasure that the Fourth Reich is taking too long to reach a deal on what to do next. He has said he will not wait for the other Euro nations to agree before he imposes a financial transaction tax on institutions trading in France.
Here in Britain, Cameron and Osborne have expressed their opposition to imposing such a tax. Not because they dislike taxing us, but because their puppetmasters in the City of London don't want more bureaucracy to manage. They would prefer a straightforward levy against assets.
Those in favour of such a tax in the UK include a gaggle of NGOs and celebrities, including Richard Curtis, who also believes it's a good idea to blow up anyone who disagrees with the Climate Change cult.
As is typical with much of the political wrangling in this country, however, both sides of the argument hide the fundamental point - a tax on financial transactions is not a tax on banks. It is a tax on us!
The "Robin Hood" tax is not stealing from the rich to give to the poor. It is stealing from everyone to give to the rich, via government debt interest payments.
This tax is no different to corporation tax. What corporation on this planet, when it sets its prices, does so without taking corporation tax into account? No, in reality the cost of corporation tax is passed on to the consumer, and has no impact on any corporation's bottom line.
The same prinicple applies for the "Robin Hood" tax, as the cost of the tax is passed on to our mortgages, savings and pensions.
So, Sarkozy has blinked first. He knows the Euro system is about to blow, and he scrabbling around in the dirt for any source of revenue which will keep things going for a few minutes more - maybe until after the Presidential election in May.
But that doesn't change the fact that a financial transaction tax is a tax on us. If the aim is to sort out the banking system as it stands, there is only one approach which will work - start with Glass Steagall.
