Economic ideas and economists in the Parliament in the liberal age: The attempt to implement a tax on incomes in Spain in 1868-1869

Abstract

The presence of economic ideas in parliamentary debates is a field of study that has increasingly gained attention within the wider subject of the institutionalisation of political economy in the so called liberal age in Western world. Within this general framework, this paper focuses on a particular case: It studies the relevance of economic ideas and the role of economists in the debates which took place in the Spanish Parliament following the bill issued by the Minister of Finances Laureano Figuerola in order to establish a tax on personal incomes in 1868. The article attempts to show, first, that economic ideas played a significant role in the design and the subsequent discussions about the income tax, and that the presence and influence of economists in the Parliament at that time was remarkable. Secondly, that this was a serious attempt to modernise the structure of taxation in Spain after the liberal revolution of 1868, seeking to devise a fiscal system capable to foster economic development.income tax, tax reform, parliament, public finances, political economy, economic liberalism