Brown’s call for transactions tax gets cold shou lder

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown surprised G20 finance ministers by urging them to consider a tax on global financial transactions, but the idea got a lukewarm response. Brown said Saturday such a levy, often called the Tobin Tax after the US economist who devised it, would force financial institutions to be more responsible and was one of a range of measures that could help curb risky behaviour. It has always been thought that Britain opposed the idea, because of fears it could damage the interests of the City of London, Europe's foremost financial centre. But finance minister Alistair Darling said "times change" after 12 months in which G20 governments had been forced to inject billions of dollars to rescue banks from collapse. A levy, Darling said, was one way that banks could contribute to the "wellbeing of the world" -- and, more pertinently, provide funds to use if they needed bailing out again.