Private Wealth and Public Revenue in Latin America

Inequality and taxation are fundamental problems of modern times. How and when can democracies tax economic elites? This book develops a theoretical framework that refines and integrates the classic concepts of businesss instrumental (political) power and structural (investment) power to explain the scope and fate of tax initiatives targeting economic elites in Latin America after economic liberalization. In Chile businesss multiple sources of instrumental power including cohesion and ties to right parties kept substantial tax increases off the agenda. In Argentina weaker business power facilitated significant reform although specific sectors including finance and agriculture occasionally had instrumental and/or structural power to defend their interests. In Bolivia popular mobilization counterbalanced the power of economic elites who were much stronger than in Argentina but weaker than in Chile. The books in-depth medium-N case analysis and close attention to policymaking processes contribute insights on business power and prospects for redistribution in unequal democracies.