# Stock market plunge of May 6 2010

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-plunge-of-may-6-2010/538600>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 7, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-plunge-of-may-6-2010/538600 "2010-05-07T04:17:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-plunge-of-may-6-2010/538600/41 "2010-05-11T03:32:31Z")

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> [@Trom](#):
>
> :smack:
> 
> The evidence gathered on markets similar in quality (size, volume, liquidity, etc) to the US stock market indicates an _increase_ in volatility when a financial transaction tax is present.

My own point was along the lines of what **septimus** has already said: There would have to be international cooperation. The Scandinavian experience, for example, isn’t evidence against such a tax. It’s evidence against a _unilateral_ tax. Unless I do some more reading on this, though, I’m not going to have anything more useful to say, so I’ll leave it there.

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**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-plunge-of-may-6-2010/538600/42 "2010-05-11T07:30:55Z")

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> [@Trom](#):
>
> [Here’s](http://www.vimeo.com/11570780) an interesting recording of the S&P futures pit during the panic. All trading done in the pit is human to human. Listen to the panic in the pit announcer’s voice. The bottom dropped out because all traders pulled their bids. When the market bounced, there was no liquidity at the _offer_ price. Lack of liquidity is what allowed for such a volatile move. (There are a number annoying of 3-5 second gaps in the audio the first couple minutes, but it starts right back up.)

Awesome! 🙂

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