Excerpt Inequality And Fiscal Policy

This paper is an excerpt from Inequality and Fiscal Policy. The sizeable increase in income inequality experienced in advanced economies and many parts of the world since the 1990s and the severe consequences of the global economic and financial crisis have brought issues on equity and distribution to the top of the policy agenda. The book delves into this discussion by analyzing fiscal policy and its link with inequality. Fiscal policy is the government’s most powerful tool for addressing inequality. It affects household consumption directly and indirectly. An important message of the book is that growth and equity are not necessarily at odds; with the appropriate mix of policy instruments and careful policy design, countries can in many cases achieve better distributional outcomes and improve economic efficiency. Country case studies demonstrate the diversity of challenges and the diverging ways to use fiscal policy for redistribution. The analysis presented in the book builds on work by IMF economists and leading academics.

The sizeable increase in income inequality experienced in advanced economies and many parts of the world since the 1990s and the severe consequences of the global economic and financial crisis have brought distributional issues to the top of the policy agenda. The challenge for many governments is to address concerns over rising inequality while simultaneously promoting economic efficiency and more robust economic growth. The book delves into this discussion by analyzing fiscal policy and its link with inequality. Fiscal policy is the government’s most powerful tool for addressing inequality. It affects households ‘consumption directly (through taxes and transfers) and indirectly (via incentives for work and production and the provision of public goods and individual services such as education and health). An important message of the book is that growth and equity are not necessarily at odds; with the appropriate mix of policy instruments and careful policy design, countries can in many cases achieve better distributional outcomes and improve economic efficiency. Country studies (on the Netherlands, China, India, Republic of Congo, and Brazil) demonstrate the diversity of challenges across countries and their differing capacity to use fiscal policy for redistribution. The analysis presented in the book builds on and extends work done at the IMF, and also includes contributions from leading academics.

Historically, women around the world have had less opportunity than men in education, employment, and health care, and less political representation. The moral argument for gender equality is clear, and the economic evidence is mounting. The International Monetary Fund and other international institutions have focused in recent years on developing a range of approaches to help whittle away at the barriers that prevent girls and women from achieving their full economic potential. This book is based on a joint research project between the IMF and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development on gender budgeting around the world. The book summarizes some of the most prominent gender budgeting efforts in more than 80 countries tried over the last two decades. The research team relied on published materials, developed a questionnaire sent to the ministries of finance of all 189 IMF member countries, and conducted interviews with country officials and international organizations that offer technical assistance to countries seeking to implement gender budgeting. Although the gender gap is shrinking, progress remains uneven across many regions of the world. Gender budgeting allows fiscal authorities to ensure that tax spending and policies address inequality and the advancement of women in areas such as education, health, and economic empowerment. Gender budgeting has been targeted to a variety of goals such as access to education, childcare, and health services; raising female labor force participation; and eradicating violence against women. There are still many lessons to be learned in implementing the appropriate government policies and fiscal measures to continue promoting women’s development and gender equality.

Historically, women around the world have had less opportunity than men in education, employment, and health care, and less political representation. The moral argument for gender equality is clear, and the economic evidence is mounting. The International Monetary Fund and other international institutions have focused in recent years on developing a range of approaches to help whittle away at the barriers that prevent girls and women from achieving their full economic potential. This book is based on a joint research project between the IMF and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development on gender budgeting around the world. The book summarizes some of the most prominent gender budgeting efforts in more than 80 countries tried over the last two decades. The research team relied on published materials, developed a questionnaire sent to the ministries of finance of all 189 IMF member countries, and conducted interviews with country officials and international organizations that offer technical assistance to countries seeking to implement gender budgeting. Although the gender gap is shrinking, progress remains uneven across many regions of the world. Gender budgeting allows fiscal authorities to ensure that tax spending and policies address inequality and the advancement of women in areas such as education, health, and economic empowerment. Gender budgeting has been targeted to a variety of goals such as access to education, childcare, and health services; raising female labor force participation; and eradicating violence against women. There are still many lessons to be learned in implementing the appropriate government policies and fiscal measures to continue promoting women's development and gender equality.

A groundbreaking history of why governments do—and don't—tax the rich In today's social climate of acknowledged and growing inequality, why are there not greater efforts to tax the rich? In this wide-ranging and provocative book, Kenneth Scheve and David Stasavage ask when and why countries tax their wealthiest citizens—and their answers may surprise you. Taxing the Rich draws on unparalleled evidence from twenty countries over the last two centuries to provide the broadest and most in-depth history of progressive taxation available. Scheve and Stasavage explore the intellectual and political debates surrounding the taxation of the wealthy while also providing the most detailed examination to date of when taxes have been levied against the rich and when they haven't. Fairness in debates about taxing the rich has depended on different views of what it means to treat people as equals and whether taxing the rich advances or undermines this norm. Scheve and Stasavage argue that governments don't tax the rich just because inequality is high or rising—they do it when people believe that such taxes compensate for the state unfairly privileging the wealthy. Progressive taxation saw its heyday in the twentieth century, when compensatory arguments for taxing the rich focused on unequal sacrifice in mass warfare. Today, as technology gives rise to wars of more limited mobilization, such arguments are no longer persuasive. Taxing the Rich shows how the future of tax reform will depend on whether political and economic conditions allow for new compensatory arguments to be made.

This paper discusses how politics affects policies on the fiscal front. The literature on the political economy of fiscal policy dates back to the nineteenth century when the Italian and Swedish schools of public finance began to analyze how governments choose policies. During the twentieth century, the Public Choice school continued this work and focused on the political incentives and constraints in policy formulation. Elections mainly affect the stabilization and redistribution functions of the government. Proximity of elections can influence the government’s budget decisions in various ways. Ideology heavily influences fiscal policies that pertain to redistribution. Leftwing parties draw their support from workers and the middle- and low-income segments of the population. Thus, they pay particular attention to income inequality, redistribution, social benefits, and interventionist supply-side policies in the form of public provision of human and physical capital. Although the cabinet’s ideology is an important predictor of fiscal policy, it does not always play the same role, especially when the government’s credibility is at stake and they need to reassure financial markets.

This is an excerpt from Paving the Way to Growth and Prosperity in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic edited by Kimberly Beaton, Roberto Garcia Saltos, and Lorenzo Figliuoli. Over the past three decades, countries in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic have experienced sustained economic transfor-mation. The region has moved away from its rural and agricultural past to a modern and urban present and has significantly integrated its econ-omies regionally and globally. Many factors have shaped the region’s economic performance and are expected to contribute to its future development. The book aims to foster policy dialogue and contribute to the efforts to address the region’s unique challenges. The first part looks at the region’s growth with a view to understanding how structural determinants have contributed to the region’s uneven gains and the resulting priorities to strengthen the foundations of growth. The second part of the book high-lights the importance of addressing the region’s fiscal challenges and supporting growth and improved social outcomes. Finally, the third part of the book emphasizes the importance of a supportive financial sector for growth, including through financial inclusion and development. This excerpt is taken from uncorrected page proofs. Please check quota-tions and attributions against the final published volume.

This paper analyzes various linkages and interconnections between gender inequality and the macroeconomy. The prevalence of gender inequality, particularly the presence of gender gaps in the labor force and in economic opportunities, can weigh on and impede inclusive growth. The precise nature of gender gaps varies, but in the majority of countries there are differences between men and women in decision-making power, economic participation, access to opportunities, and social norms and expectations. The analysis shows that gender gaps in pay and in access to resources, occupations, and credit, among other things, not only have negative microeconomic effects on women but also imply large costs for the aggregate economy. Differences in economic outcomes may be a consequence of unequal opportunities and enabling conditions for men and women and for boys and girls. Raising female participation could provide an important boost to growth, but women face two hurdles in participating in the workforce in Japan.