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Too Much Finance Conference 2026 – Roundtable on taxing finance and taxing wealth
The phenomenon of ‘too much finance’ – the consistent research finding that an outsized financial sector undermines the economic performance of the host country – remains underappreciated in policy design and public awareness. The resulting policy failure has direct social costs, including those of needlessly high inequalities. ‘Too much finance’ is a challenge seen around the world, and the UK is especially badly exposed so the policy discussion is particularly urgent here where politicians are still heard talking of deregulating finance as a tool to increase economic growth. At the same time, countries of the global South have long faced pressures from international institutions to liberalise both domestic and cross-border financial regulation, despite the evidence of harm.
The conference was organised with the support of the Tax Justice Network, the International Inequalities Institute at London School of Economics, the International Inequality Institute, the Balanced Economy Project, Finance Innovation Lab and the Manchester School journal.
Roundtable on taxing finance and taxing wealth Chair: Heather Stewart (Guardian)
Initial contributions including:
• Jayati Ghosh (U.Mass/ICRICT)
• Claire Godfrey (Balanced Economy Project)
• Jesse Griffiths (Finance Innovation Lab)
• Carlos Brown Solà (Tax The Super Rich campaign/Atlantic Fellow)
