Summary This paper documents and compares the redistributive performance of Latin American and Western European fiscal systems. Three main conclusions emerge: (i) taxes and transfers widen the difference in income inequality between the two country groups, because (ii) the redistributive impact...

Summary Those involved in the millennium development goal (MDG) campaign routinely state "Africa will miss all the MDGs." This paper argues that a series of arbitrary choices made in defining "success" or "failure" as achieving numerical targets for the MDGs made attainment of the MDGs less...

Foreign aid critics, supporters, recipients, and donors have produced eloquent rhetoric on the need for better aid practices—has this translated into reality? This paper attempts to monitor the best and worst of aid practices among bilateral, multilateral, and UN agencies. We create aid...