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Representation without taxation, taxation without consent: the legacy of Spanish colonialism in America

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  • Irigoin, Alejandra

Abstract

The essay examines Spain’s colonial legacy in the long-run development of Spanish America. It surveys the fiscal and constitutional outcomes of independence and assesses the relative burden imposed by colonialism. Constitutional asymmetries between revenue collecting and spending agents constrained de facto governments’ power to tax. Inherent disparities embedded in the colonial fiscal system worsened with vaguely defined representation for subjects and territories and vexed their aggregation into a modern representative polity. Governments with limited fiscal capacity failed to deliver public goods and to distribute the costs and benefits of independence equitably. Growing indirect taxes, debt and money creation allowed them to transfer the fiscal burden to other constituents or future generations. Taxpayers became aware of the asymmetry between private contributions and public goods and hence favoured a low but regressive taxation. Comparisons with trajectories in the metropolis and the United States are offered to qualify this legacy.

Suggested Citation

  • Irigoin, Alejandra, 2016. "Representation without taxation, taxation without consent: the legacy of Spanish colonialism in America," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 67384, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:67384
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/67384/
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    Cited by:

    1. Andres Irarrazaval, 2022. "The Fiscal Origins of Comparative Inequality levels: An Empirical and Historical Investigation," Working Papers wp531, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    2. Federico, Giovanni & Tena Junguito, Antonio, 2017. "Exports and American divergence. Lost decades and Emancipation collapse in Latin American and the Caribbean 1820-1870," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 24208, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    3. Peres-Cajías, José & Torregrosa-Hetland, Sara & Ducoing, Cristián, 2020. "Resource abundance and public finances in five peripheral economies, 1850-1939," Lund Papers in Economic History 216, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    4. Irarrázaval, Andrés, 2020. "The fiscal origins of comparative inequality levels: an empirical and historical investigation," Economic History Working Papers 107491, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    5. Peres-Cajías, José & Torregrosa-Hetland, Sara & Ducoing, Cristián, 2022. "Resource abundance and public finances in five peripheral economies, 1850s–1930s," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Irarrázaval, Andrés, 2020. "The fiscal origins of comparative inequality levels: an empirical and historical investigation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107491, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    colonial legacy; institutions; long-run development; Spanish America; Spain; US;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
    • N16 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N2 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation
    • N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative

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