While many of the Dodd-Frank rules have yet to be written, largely due to objections from Congressional Republican who obviously can’t remember what cause the financial meltdown, it is essential that the federal government provide financial disincentives to short-term trading.

At a Senate hearing on this issue last month, many of the witnesses suggested that automation combined with high-frequency trading strategies has disrupted the smooth functioning of the markets because the computers react long before people can react; as such, the computers are in many ways dictating consumer sentiments before such feelings surface, in essence leading investors to adopt trading behaviors instead of the other way around.

For this reason, the sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing industry favors legislation establishing small financial transaction taxes (FTTs). The SEC already charges a .00257% tax on transactions, increased from .0017% back in 2010, that generates $1 billion annually, to fund the SEC itself.  Since the SEC is grossly underfunded to enforce existing laws and craft rules for new ones, the agency needs additional resources to protect the American people from fraud and other illegal practices.

While the concept of taxing transactions is not new, the proposed FTTs will re-enforce the prudent longer-term investment perspective and discourage trading practices that only create instability in our financial markets. Financial transaction taxes can be small –a fraction of a percent per trade – but they would diminish the incentive to pursue speculative short-term trading. As many notable economists have observed, a modest transaction tax will actually improve the functioning of markets.

The European Commission and many G20 countries support the FTT concept not only because it addresses liquidity concerns and volatility spikes, but because it does not harm long-term investing. The UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and India, already have FTTs on particular asset classes that raise billions of dollars per year.

The simple truth is that investors need to trust the markets if they’re going to invest in them again. As long as people are afraid that the system has run amok, can’t moderate volatility, and is not accountable for severe losses or unethical practices, they will take their capital elsewhere, which one could argue is precisely why the economic remains stagnant.

Reducing volatility will lead to increased investment while restoring the credibility of the financial sector. Capital lubricates the economy and is responsible for the employment rate, so regulators should be encouraged to immediately take any step that will restore investor confidence in the markets. The FTT is an important step in this direction, and should be supported without reservation.