Income tax was not the result of democratisation, and governments should take note

Most democratic nations use income tax. Yet the reasons the measure was adopted were far from democratic, explain Isabela Mares and Didac Queralt. The measure was originally used to consolidate the power of the elites by imposing a heavier burden on industrialists, while the value of one’s vote would even be weighted by the amount of tax one would pay, making income tax responsible for various types of inequality. This history should be considered when drawing fiscal policy today, the authors argue. Although governments should strive to have the wealthy on board, they should not favour them at the expense of everyone else

Protection Not for Sale, But for Tax Compliance

How do rulers raise taxes when the fiscal capacity of the state is weak? I argue that, in conditions of low fiscal capacity, rulers might secure high tax yields by granting protection from competition to key domestic producers. I offer qualitative evidence of this exchange in the developing world today and test the theory against a sample of thirty-two developing states in Latin American, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union circa 2005. Results indicate that, conditional on poor fiscal capacity, declining industries pay higher taxes (or evade less) if governments grant them tariff protection from international competitors. The results add to recent scholarship that studies the conditions under which entry barriers—which are otherwise inefficient institutions—result in second-best solutions for states whose capabilities are still consolidating. My findings suggest that trade protection does not always stem from rent-seeking by government. This article therefore offers a new, alternative hypothesis to canonical models in international political economy

The legacy of church-state conflict: Evidence from Nazi repression of Catholic priests

A burgeoning literature on repression against civilians argues that exposure to violence changes victims' identities by strengthening attachment to the in-group and creates downstream effects for political and social behaviour that persist across generations. In this paper, we ask whether selective repression against community elites, who are crucial in the processes of value formation and transmission, might create similar lasting effects. We test this hypothesis in the context of Nazi-era repression of Catholic clergy in Bavaria and explore whether historical repression against Catholic priests might be associated with higher support for Christian Democrats in the post-World War II period. Consistent with expectations, we find that communes where Catholic priests had been repressed by the Nazi regime are more likely to vote for Christian Democrats by comparison to those settlements where no elite repression took place. This effect is particularly strong in smaller communes where networks are tighter and where the repressed priests served for longer periods. We find that the legacy of priest repression on voting behaviour persists all the way into the present, although its magnitude wanes overtime. These findings shed new light on the long-term political repercussions of the church-state relationshipand suggest that selective repression of elites is capable of leaving lasting intergenerational legacies for political and social behaviour

Table_1_Clinical characteristics and degree of cardiovascular risk factor control in patients with newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes in Catalonia.docx

IntroductionWomen with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) face a greater risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and encounter challenges in managing cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF); however, limited data are available in individuals with newlydiagnosed T2DM.MethodsThis study aimed to examine differences between women and men at the onset of T2DM in terms of clinical characteristics, glycaemic status, and CVRF management. This was a retrospective cohort study including subjects with newly-diagnosed T2DM from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP) database in Catalonia (Spain). Sex differences (Dif) were assessed at baseline and 1-year post-diagnosis, by calculating the absolute difference of means or proportions.ResultsA total of 13,629 subjects with newly-diagnosed T2DM were analyzed. Women were older and had a higher BMI than men. At baseline, women had higher total cholesterol [Dif (95%CI) 10 mg/dL (9.1/10.8)] and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) [Dif (95%CI) 7 mg/dL (6.3/7.7)], while men had higher rates of smoking and alcohol intake. Lipid target achievement was lower in women, in both primary prevention (LDL-c ConclusionDifferences between men and women CVRF are already apparent at the onset of T2DM, particularly in primary prevention, with notable differences in lipid profile and target level attainment.</p