Corporate stock transactions on Wall Street are not taxed even though many billions of dollars change hands every day. This encourages day trading and quantitative trading (Quants) where stocks are held for tiny fractions of a second. This rapid turn-over creates high volatility and instability in the markets. This instability has contributed to the poor economy and to fears about poor economic recovery.
Assess a small tax on stock transactions to bring down market volatility and use the revenue to rebuild the transportation and electronic infrastructure. This will create jobs in the short run and prosperity far into the future.