Books by Vito Tanzi

This book revisits a distinction introduced in 1921 by economists Frank Knight and John Maynard Keynes: that between statistically predictable future events ('risks') and statistically unpredictable, uncertain events ('uncertainties'). Governments have generally ignored the latter, perceiving phenomena such as pandemics, natural disasters and climate change as uncontrollable Acts of God. As a result, there has been little if any preparation for future catastrophes. Our modern society is more interconnected and more globalized than ever. Dealing with uncertain future events requires a stronger and more globally coordinated government response. This book suggests a larger, more global government role in dealing with these disasters and keeping economic inequalities low. Major institutional changes, such as regulating the private sector for the common good and dealing with special harms, risks and crises, especially those concerning climate change and pandemics, are necessary in order to achieve any semblance of future progress for humankind.

The first edition of this book, published in 2007, took the readers up to the period shortly after the debt default. After 2002, Argentina experienced some exciting and dramatic years and three different administrations. This new, updated, version describes, in simple terms, the main economic developments that took place in Argentina from 2002 until the end of 2017. It highlights the role that three different administrations played and the economic difficulties that remain. "Argentina started the 20th Century as one of the richest ten country in the world. For a while its economic position in the world was comparable to that of, say, Germany today. It had a per capita income much higher than that of Japan and Italy and comparable to that of France. However, it ended the century on the eve of the largest default in history.How did this dramatic change come about? In this unusual book, not based on library research but mostly on first hand and direct observations, the author takes the reader through a fascinating ride through time. The reader is introduced to the concept of fiscal cycles and the economic landscape of this fascinating country. The book is written in a style that will make it accessible and interesting to a general reader."Praise for V. Tanzi's Book on Argentina. Vito Tanzi has done it again. This book combines an intriguing prose, full of anecdotes and rich personal memoirs of Vito's many trips to Argentina, with serious economic analysis from a first class economist. …Vito has come to understand very well Argentina's idiosyncrasy, institutions and the nature of the protracted fiscal problems, and explains how these have lead over time to major macroeconomic volatility, stagnation, and repeated crises. This book is particularly useful for the general public …Domingo Cavallo, Former Finance Minister of ArgentinaVito Tanzi [book] is an invaluable document … of the dramatic fall of Argentina as the leading Latin American economy. …[show] .. the complicity of the IMF and of Argentine policy makers in the design of the disastrous fiscal policies that led to its huge debt default … It should be required reading for policy makers and for all those who love that wonderful country …Francisco Gil- Diaz, Former Finance Minister of MexicoExplaining the reversals of economic fortunes in Argentina during the 20th is a challenge for economists and social observers in general. After being one of most dynamic and vibrant economies in the late 19th century and early 20th century, …, the country started to travel a road of economic instability, stagnant and erratic growth and collapse of democracy. In this new and lucid book Vito Tanzi, drawing on 40 years of direct personal knowledge and field experience with Argentina, ….This book, … is a must reading for anyone interested in understanding the Argentina of today and yesterday. Highly recommended.Andrés Solimano . Regional Advisor UN-ECLAC. Former Country Director at the World Bank and Executive Director at the Inter-American Development Bank."For 27 years, Vito Tanzi was a senior staff member of the International Monetary Fund. He was the director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. He also was as Undersecretary for Economy and Finance in the Italian Government. A professional economist with a PhD from Harvard, he is considered a leading expert in fiscal policy. The author of many books and hundreds of articles in professional journals, he has given a named "effect" to economics, the "Tanzi Effect". In 1994 he was President of the International Institute of Public Finance of which he is now Honorary President.

One of the world's leading public economists offers a sweeping account of modern economic development. In plain language it connects the extreme growth in income inequality, increasing complexity of government regulations, and the workings of political influence to explain the biggest issues facing the world economy today.

Tanzi explores how foreign taxes on repatriated income should be treated; how profits, sales, and ownership of property should be allocated among countries; and to what degree various taxes should be coordinated.

Vito Tanzi offers a truly comprehensive treatment of the economic role of the state in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries from a historical and world perspective. The book addresses the fundamental question of what governments should do, or have attempted to do, in economic activities in past and recent periods. It also speculates on what they are likely or may be forced to do in future years. The investigation assembles a large set of statistical information that should prove useful to policy-makers and scholars in the perennial discussion of government's optimal economic roles. It will become an essential reference work on the analytical borders between the market and the state, and on what a reasonable 'exit strategy' from the current fiscal crises should be.

Inflation distorts income taxes in many ways, but primarily by redistributing the tax burden among taxpayers.