Reflections on the Tax Working Group Report
This article reviews the Report of the Tax Working Group of the Victoria University of Wellington, which included individuals from the Treasury and the Inland Revenue Department, as well as from the business community. The Report makes an important contribution to the tax policy debate in New Zealand by setting out the reasons for reform, the basic principles used to consider alternative policies, and the advantages and disadvantages of a range of reform proposals. The purpose of this review of the Report is not to discuss the proposals and recommendations in detail, but to consider a number of aspects concerning the evaluation of tax structures and to try to clarify some arguments which are not stated explicitly in the Report. An indication of useful next steps is also given.
The Excess Burden of Taxation
No abstract available.
Achievements and contradictions of the Peruvian agrarian reform
Different paths of transition to capitalist agriculture, as well as different types of agrarian reform, can be distinguished. The Peruvian agrarian reform is analysed within this context and evaluated in terms of its contribution to rural development. The Peruvian case underlines the importance of understanding the rationality of the pre‐existent agrarian system for a successful restructuring of the agrarian economy and society. The contradictions which arose between the State's model and the peasants’ model of agrarian reform, as well as those between different types of peasants, are discussed. Peru's experience is also a reminder that a land reform is not a sufficient condition for rural development unless accompanied by proper price, marketing, credit and investment policies.