Fiscal policy and integrated development

The aim of the present article is to offer an overall picture of the relation between fiscal policy and economic development in Latin America during the last few decades, combining a description of policy proposals with a critical evaluation of their orientations and results and presenting suggestions for action. It begins by demarcating the actual content of fiscal policy and depicting the more general features of recent economic development, and goes on to analyse on this basis, critically and in detail, the proposals for tax reforms arising out of the conferences on fiscal policy held between 1961 and 1972 in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Chile, and Mexico City. Although a significant and cumulative contribution has been made by each and all of them” to the development of fiscal policy in Latin America, their recommendations are open to some objections, to the effect, for instance, that they obscure the importance of public expenditure and disregard political questions.