Fresh Look Review: Los límites Morales del Gasto Público: Desigualdad, Bienestar e Ingresos no Laborales

Income inequality has dogged Latin America since the Colonial era. The gap between the rich and the poor has widened even during periods of sustained economic growth—which suggests that even serious efforts to address the problem through a more equitable distribution of benefits are underscored by the regressive quality of the region’s institutions.

Against this backdrop, Dante Avaro’s new book, Los Límites Morales del Gasto Público: Desigualdad, Bienestar e Ingresos no Laborales (The Moral Limits of Public Spending: Inequality, Welfare and Non-Labor Income), is a worthy contribution to the debate over inequality. The centerpiece of the book is Avaro’s effort to formulate a public policy that reduces inequality without compromising economic growth. In Latin America, redistribution programs have often led to the implementation of populist macroeconomic policies that created short-lived economic booms, but which have been followed by sharp economic adjustments resulting in even greater poverty and inequality.

Given the region’s history, Avaro...

To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue.

Already a subscriber? Login Now.

Ignacio Labaqui is a professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina.