Maybe I was too eager to sneer at the Chinese government’s adjustment of the stamp tax. From Fleck’s rap today: “Historically, adjusting the stamp tax in China has been quite effective: When they raised it in 1992, the market dropped 70% before making a low; and, after they raised the duty in 1997, shares fell 30% from the highs.”

Here’s what China Daily has to say, which isn’t quite the same: “In the 17-year history of China’s stock market, a stamp tax hike usually led to a slump in the market.

China started collecting a stamp tax on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in July, 1990, but only levied on sellers at 0.6 percent. Four months later, buyers were also subjected to the tax.

The tax triggered a downturn in the Shenzhen market, forcing authorities to cut it in half to 0.3 percent in October 1991. At the same time, the Shanghai Stock Exchange also began collecting duty on both sides of trades.

On May 10, 1997, the tax rate was upped to 0.5 percent, which may have caused a bear market that lasted until mid-1999. The rate was lowered to 0.4 percent in June, 1998 before being adjusted to 0.3 percent one year later and then to 0.2 percent in 2001.

Regulators further lowered the duty in January 2005 to 0.1 percent in order to boost stock prices during a market slump lasting from 2001 to 2005.”