In recent weeks, the issue of tax avoidance has surged into the United States presidential election. It gained momentum Sept. 26 during the first presidential debate when Republican candidate Donald Trump said that not paying federal income taxes made him “smart.” It moved to the forefront Oct. 1 with the revelation by the New York Times that Trump had declared a $916 million … [Read more...] about Is Being ‘Smart’ About Taxes Contagious?
Fighting Zika: The Need for Sustained But Flexible Messaging
Over the last year, newspapers and television stations in the Americas have reported hundreds of stories about the Zika epidemic. The media is flooded with news accounts of people suffering from temporary paralysis, infants with brain damage, and the fears the virus has unleashed, especially among pregnant women. Yet despite these accounts—and thousands of warnings by … [Read more...] about Fighting Zika: The Need for Sustained But Flexible Messaging
A Sharp New Light on Political Institutions
How competitive are presidential and legislative elections in Bolivia, France and Afghanistan? What are their electoral rules? How relevant are their political checks and balances across branches of government? In the past, scholars and analysts floundered in the dark trying to answer those questions. They might consult case studies. But the frameworks and methodologies were … [Read more...] about A Sharp New Light on Political Institutions
Want People to Pay Their Taxes? Try a Visit
For years, policy makers in Latin America and the Caribbean have struggled with the immense and chronic problem of tax evasion, which averages close to 50% in many countries and limits governments' ability to spend on schools, hospitals and other critical needs. The problem relates not only to the difficulty of finding tax delinquents. It has to do with the difficulty of … [Read more...] about Want People to Pay Their Taxes? Try a Visit
External Aid and Government Capacity Building
A recent report by AidData (summarized in the Washington Post ) shows that Multilateral Banks “exert larger-than-expected agenda-setting influence on the basis of their financial contributions.” That is, institutions such as the IDB and the World Bank influence the setting of the reform agenda and help countries develop policies beyond what their actual financial contributions … [Read more...] about External Aid and Government Capacity Building